But the army did not actually charge, there was no momentum in its steps, it just marched forward in formation.
Countless torches were lit, and a large number of soldiers suddenly appeared from behind the hillside. Flames lit up in patches, covering the sky and the ground with no end in sight.
Each of them held two torches and shook them constantly, and their shouts almost tore their throats apart.
As a result, these 20,000 soldiers even gave the appearance of an army of 100,000.
As the flames covered the entire hill, the enemy immediately stopped attacking the city and quickly took up a defensive position outside the city.
At this moment, Xi Heng's elite troops had finished firing rockets, and the fire on the ship had begun to spread.
The fireball will smash the bottom of the ship, causing a raging fire inside, and at the same time, a huge hole will be created, through which the river water will flow.
After destroying the ships and sweeping away hundreds of enemy defenders who arrived the fastest, Xi Heng immediately retreated with his elite troops.
Together with the elite troops, she repelled many attacking enemy forces. When she was halfway there and saw that there was no danger, she used her light skills to rush to the city wall, where the enemy forces were most concentrated.
The first move he used was the most powerful Blood Wave Sword Technique.
He wiped the sword with his left hand, and a splash of blood and vitality floated on the sword.
Multiple layers of rich dark red were added to the blade, and an illusory red light suddenly appeared when it was swung.
The next moment, the area covered by the red light was immediately completely covered by a mark of ink.
The ink marks gradually disappeared, leaving only large pieces of broken bones and rotten flesh.
Even the fearless Yan Meng soldiers around them couldn't help but feel panicked and surprised when they saw this.
When Xi Heng landed in the center of the enemy army and swung her sword to kill people, the enemies immediately remembered what she had done on the battlefield in the northern border and retreated in panic.
Yan Meng's army was disturbed internally and there were a large number of enemy troops in front of them. The generals began to hesitate whether to withdraw first.
Then, the gate of Dongping city suddenly opened wide, and the soldiers defending the city rushed out to the side of the enemy, killing and slashing indiscriminately.
The situation now is just like the siege of Kezhou City.
Coincidentally, the Yan Meng army that came to attack Dongping City today was the same army that previously attacked Kezhou City in the northern border.
Such a similar scene reminded both soldiers and generals of their past defeats.
Because of the threats from all sides, this unbearable feeling did not turn into anger, but instead quickly turned into a desire to retreat.
If we had not withdrawn our troops at the beginning, there would probably have been greater losses.
Now it is time to withdraw the troops...
When Xi Heng launched a massive assault on the enemy position and killed many of them, he encountered only a few obstacles and felt that the enemy had already retreated.
In fact, the combat effectiveness of the 26,000 troops under her command was extremely poor. If they were allowed to engage in a head-on battle with Yan Meng's army, they would be defeated in a short time.
It would be better to ask his soldiers to make as much noise as possible, just to scare people with the noise.
Combined with her invading the enemy camp and attacking first, coupled with the blazing flames on the ships behind, the enemy should be scared away.
The scene before her was just as she expected.
The fires all over the mountains and fields created by tens of thousands of soldiers in the distance rushed over like a mountain torrent and tsunami.
At first glance, it was impossible to tell how many there were, and it seemed that it would be difficult to resist the soldiers rushing over the mountain.
The enemy had been attacking the city for a long time and was already exhausted. Seeing this, they naturally had no intention of stopping us and just retreated.
Immediately afterwards, a huge fireball with a diameter of two meters suddenly appeared and crashed into Yan Meng’s army.
The loud bang of the explosion almost shattered the eardrums, and the retreat of Yan Meng's army immediately increased.
"Withdraw—withdraw!"
Yan Meng's messenger shouted loudly everywhere, and Xi Heng also stopped his indiscriminate killing and moved away from the enemy position using light skills.
Seeing the enemy retreating rapidly to the north in the night, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to herself.
"Although it's just bluffing, the overall effect is quite good..."
The enemy army's formation was almost collapsed. If she had even two or three thousand elite cavalry under her command, Xi Heng would immediately chase after them.
Unfortunately not.
When Xi Heng returned to the army, he saw that the surrounding Beijing troops cheered and their morale soared when they saw that they were able to drive back Yan Meng's army, which was said to be fearless of life and death.
When Yan Meng's army disappeared from sight, the generals defending Dongping City came to express their gratitude.
"General, you have held out for so long, thank you for your hard work." Xi Heng simply returned the greeting and ordered his troops to enter the city.
"Yan'an has been captured. Dongping is the only remaining strong city in the northern part of the capital. I will defend it to the death," the other party flattered.
"How many warriors are left in Dongping City now?"
"..." The other party was silent for a moment and said, "Since hearing that Yan Meng was heading south, Dongping has gathered nearly 10,000 defenders. Now, after more than 20 days of holding out, there are only 3,000 left."
"The soldiers who sacrificed their lives defending their country are heroes. The capital will send a large amount of money and food support in the near future to ensure post-war pensions." Xi Heng said,
"Also, to avoid the plague, please deal with the bodies around the city as soon as possible."
……
Three days later, raging fires began to burn above the huge piles of corpses.
The flesh and blood of the enemy's corpses outside the city wall shrank into dry firewood and transformed into spiritual energy that filled the fifteen spirit stones.
In the previous battle, Xi Heng used five spirit stones to burn ships to expand his momentum, but the gain this time was still not great.
"Now I have a total of sixty spirit stones. Maybe I can try a small sea of blood?" she thought.
If the number of spirit stones does not meet the standard, the power of the spell will inevitably be weakened and the duration will not be too long.
But as long as it doesn't fail, it should be able to play a certain role in the battle.
Today, Dongping City has become an important military city in the northern border of Great Zhao.
From the entire mainland of Great Zhao, government offices and military units led by ministers from all directions are gathering here.
Not only that, the "Exhortation to Punish Yan" that was previously announced to the public also attracted many righteous men in the martial arts world, and he was briefly appointed as a general of the Great Zhao.
Among the people who came, there were even two Hua Jin warriors, both of whom were well-known heroes in the country of Da Zhao. One of them used a knife and the other used a sword, and they came together.
As for ordinary dark power and bright power, there are hundreds or even thousands of them.
Xi Heng understood the spirit of these warriors and did not force them to form a formation. He only allowed them to move freely on the edge of the battlefield in the subsequent battles.
As the days passed, many officers and soldiers from the central, eastern, and northern regions of Dazhao formed a battle formation and came.
Although each group of reinforcements consisted of only a few thousand soldiers at most, the number of soldiers in each group was sufficient, and the number of troops stationed in Dongping City gradually increased to as many as 70,000.
During this period, Xi Heng also received news from the Ever-Victorious Army of Northern Frontier.
They had been unable to show up in Yan'an, Dongping and other places for a long time because they were blocked by Yan Meng's army in a mountain gorge. Now they are finally about to break through the enemy's defense line. If all goes well, they will be able to reach Yan'an in seven days and retake the city of Yan'an.
Jiedushi He brought the Northern Ever-Victorious Army, which was said to have a force of 100,000 men, and prepared many siege weapons. He asked her to lead the troops to the siege of Yan'an.
And he added: Now the Khan of Yanmeng State, Yan Qingshi, is also in Yan'an City.
As the supreme leader of Yan Meng, this man personally led his troops on an expedition, gathering a strong force to capture Yan'an as quickly as possible. It is said that he was looking for something there, but it is unknown whether he found it.
What the Great Zhao Army knew was that as long as they could besiege and capture Yan'an and capture or kill the King of Yanmeng, the entire war would be over.
The Battle of Yan'an, which will take place soon, will probably be the decisive battle between the two countries.
Xi Heng then led the entire army to leave Dongping and march northward to cooperate with the Northern Frontier Army to encircle Yan'an.
…………
Chapter 121: Invincible
Ten days later.
A light breeze blew in late autumn, and withered yellow leaves from nowhere were blown into the sky, floating past the city of Yan'an, where a large number of soldiers had gathered.
The breeze made the clouds in the sky roll, and the cold air spread.
Today, it is November according to the Da Zhao calendar, and it will not be long before winter truly arrives.
This place is in the north, and dry, cold winds blow from time to time, making the large number of soldiers who came from the inland of Da Zhao feel uncomfortable.
Three days ago, after Xi Heng led his troops here, the Northern Frontier Ever-Victorious Army had also attacked. They formed a battle array to crush the number of Yan Meng's troops and launched an attack on the city port outside the wall of Yan'an.
Soldiers from all directions on the mountain charged forward with a desperate force. Even though the Yan Meng defenders put up a stubborn resistance, their defense line was eventually broken through in a short time. A large number of ships parked in the port were also burned and destroyed by the burning troops led by Xi Heng.
At the same time, the Ever-Victorious Army divided its troops and fought desperately to block the large number of cavalrymen in Yan'an City who wanted to leave the city to provide support.
The defenders of Yanmeng Port fought and retreated, and finally fought their way out and retreated into Yan'an City.
In the Battle of Yan'an, the early surprise attack and destruction of the enemy's port defense line was crucial, and the Great Zhao Army almost risked their lives to take it down.
It was also because of this that many of the Ever-Victorious Army suffered casualties, with the most elite vanguard troops losing at least one-third of their combat effectiveness, which had a huge impact on the overall combat effectiveness of the Great Zhao Army.
……
But no matter what, action must continue.
Now that the outside of the city has been taken, the next thing to do is naturally to besiege and attack the city.
Xi Heng, together with two generals of the Ever-Victorious Army, Zhao Wanli and He Yuanze, planned the siege array, deployed the troops, and used hundreds of thousands of soldiers to trap the entire Yan'an City.
By the third day of the siege, a large number of siege weapons had been placed in front of the city wall, many officers and soldiers were in battle formation, chess players and heralds were standing in the military corridors. All they needed was an order from the three main generals of the Great Zhao and the beating of the war drums to launch a general attack.
The walls of Yan'an city were already filled with Yan Meng's troops, with longbows tightly clenched in their hands, swords and spears shining coldly, and military flags fluttering in the cold wind.
The atmosphere was deep and solemn. Although both sides had hundreds of thousands of troops, there was silence in front of the city wall.
The army outside the city was ready to launch a general attack at any time, so the enemy had to be cautious and prepared at all times, not daring to let down their guard.
The armies of the two countries were in a stalemate.
Time passes and the sun rotates.
As the sun sets, the sky turns blood red.
The red light shone everywhere, falling on the bodies of every soldier, dragging out ever-lengthening shadows.
When night fell, Xi Heng returned to his main tent, holding the intelligence brought by the reconnaissance team today and the updated map spread out on the table.
Then place the two-colored chess pieces representing the soldiers of the two armies on the map, inside and outside the city.
The girl supported herself on the table with both hands, looking at the map and thinking.
The thick curtains of the big tent were suddenly rolled open, letting in a cold breeze.
Then, two middle-aged generals walked in.
"Your Highness." General Zhao and Jiedushi He addressed him respectfully and walked to the table.
Xi Heng nodded and spoke directly to the map: "I led troops to rescue Dongping before and repelled 20,000 enemy troops. This part should also be in this city... There may be 50,000 to 60,000 enemy troops stationed in Yan'an now."
"The Great Zhao army has 130,000 soldiers against the Yan Meng defenders' 60,000 soldiers." She asked, "Do you two generals think our army can win?"
After he finished speaking, he did not get an immediate answer.
This moment of hesitation represented that the two generals of the Great Zhao did not have much confidence in the situation where they were overwhelmed by numbers.
They knew very well that most of the officers and soldiers coming to support from the mainland were just to make up the numbers, and if a decisive battle really came, they would still have to rely on the Northern Frontier Military Headquarters.
Moreover, Yan'an City is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the attackers are at a natural disadvantage. The ratio of casualties between the attackers and defenders is generally around three to one.
And... now Yan'an City is surrounded on all sides, with no escape route left for the enemy to withdraw.
If they fight like trapped beasts like this, the casualties on the attacker side will probably be even higher.
General Zhao Wanli's previous decision was to surround the city on three sides and leave one side open in order to slightly reduce the pressure of the siege, but he was stopped by Xi Heng.
In her opinion, since the enemy army has penetrated deep into the hinterland, it should be completely wiped out.
"The chances of success in launching a general offensive in the near future are slim." Jiedushi He said bluntly: "We should make long-term preparations, harass from time to time, and gradually consume the enemy."
"But Yan'an City is too big, and its many granaries are enough for Yan Meng's army to survive the winter, and the surviving civilians will have no food or clothing, which will definitely create a hellish scene." Xi Heng said calmly.
There were too many civilians in Yan'an who failed to evacuate before the war. Every day the Yanmeng people occupied the city, more and more people would suffer.
"Although we have the entire Great Zhao as our backup to supply food and grass, it would be too costly for the army to be stationed here and fight against Yan Mengguo for a whole winter."
"The Great Zhao is now surrounded by enemies on all sides. It would be a waste to waste hundreds of thousands of troops here."
"In addition, we also need to consider the enemy reinforcements." She pointed to the northern part of the map.
