nucmednet Chapter 517: Fierce Battle in Dongwu Town
Chapter 517: Fierce Battle in Dongwu Town
Seeing that the situation was critical, Jiao Zan thought to himself that something was wrong. Without caring about much else, he hurriedly ordered a withdrawal.
In an instant, the Hun soldiers rushed towards the pontoon bridge like ants on a hot pan.
The pontoon bridge was already narrow, and now it was crowded with soldiers fleeing in panic, and the scene was in chaos.
Everyone was pushing and shoving each other, trying to squeeze forward. In the chaos, the floating bridge could not bear the weight and made a creaking sound, as if it would break at any time.
Finally, after a chaotic stampede, the floating bridge collapsed with a loud bang and fell into the river, splashing huge water.
As a result, after half of the people ran away, the remaining people were blocked on this side of the bridge and fell into a desperate situation.
Fat Tiger saw this and had no scruples at all. His eyes were red as he shouted, "Brothers, beat him hard!"
The artillerymen under his command also seemed to be furious and fired with all their might.
The shells streaked across the sky like meteors and landed accurately on the spot where the Huns gathered in Dongwu Town.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The explosions rang out one after another, and the entire Dongwu Town was instantly shrouded in smoke and flames.
Houses collapsed one after another in the artillery fire, and rubble and dust flew all over the sky.
The Xiongnu soldiers were blasted to the point of crying for their parents and fleeing in all directions. This round of bombardment killed and injured nearly 10,000 Xiongnu in Dongwu Town, and their screams resounded through the sky.
Three miles away, Gulizar's army heard the fierce artillery fire and immediately became alert.
Gulzar's expression was solemn. He waved his hand and shouted, "Oh no! There's a battle ahead! Bring your artillery and follow me!"
So they quickly took some artillery and rushed towards the direction of the shelling.
Soon, a fierce battle broke out with Fat Tiger's artillery.
On the battlefield, the sounds of mortars and tiger barrel cannons intertwined and were deafening.
Artillery shells exploded between the positions of both sides, raising huge clouds of dust.
Many soldiers were unable to dodge and were hit by shells, falling into a pool of blood in an instant.
The few trees that were already there were broken in half by the fierce artillery fire, and the broken branches and limbs were scattered all over the ground.
Su Dingshan came here in a hurry and did not bring much ammunition with him.
After a short battle with Gulzar's troops, there were few shells left.
Jia Yixiao looked at the gradually sparse sound of artillery fire and felt secretly anxious.
He looked up and saw that there were only about 10,000 enemy troops approaching, and he immediately had an idea.
He drew the sword from his waist, raised it high, and shouted, "Brothers, the enemy has only about ten thousand men. If we don't charge now, when will we? Let's form a battle formation and charge forward, and kill them all!"
Before he finished speaking, Jia Yixiao took the lead and led more than 10,000 soldiers to rush towards Gulizar's army like a tiger descending from the mountain.
Su Dingshan was watching the battle from the rear. In order to end the battle as soon as possible, he thought for a moment and sent out another 5,000 people to help.
At this moment, Gaddafi hurried over with 10,000 people who had crossed the river first.
Seeing that the battle ahead was intense, he went forward to fight without hesitation.
However, Gaddafi's troops were of complex composition, most of them were slave soldiers who lacked training in their daily lives, and their combat effectiveness was obviously not comparable to that of Jia Yixiao's men.
The two sides instantly engaged in a fierce fight, with shouts, screams, and the sound of weapons clashing intertwined and resounding throughout the world.
Before long, Gaddafi's troops could no longer hold out and began to show signs of defeat.
Seeing this, the troops behind joined the battle and tried to stabilize their position.
Seeing this, Su Dingshan did not dare to be negligent at all. He gritted his teeth and put all the remaining 10,000 people into the battle.
Next to Dongwu Town, the air was filled with smoke and dust.
Soldiers from both sides engaged in a desperate battle on this land, staining the ground red with blood. From morning till noon, tens of thousands of lives were mercilessly slaughtered along the riverbanks.
Blood flowed along the river channel and flowed into the river, dyeing the river water almost a shocking red.
Seeing that the enemy had no new troops to join the battle, Gulzar made up his mind and decided to make a desperate move. He sent all the slave soldiers led by Gaddafi.
For a moment, the shouts and cries of killing rang out again on the battlefield. The two sides fought in a melee, and no one could tell the identity of the other. As long as they saw someone who was not their own, they would swing their swords and chop.
Jia Yixiao led the charge, charging left and right in the enemy formation as if he was in an empty space, and killed more than a dozen people in succession.
But after a long fight, he gradually became exhausted, and several more wounds appeared on his body, and blood stained his armor red.
Su Dingshan saw it clearly from behind and thought to himself that something was wrong.
If this continued, his army would surely suffer. He acted decisively and shouted, "Sound the horns, retreat!"
After this chaotic battle, only less than 30,000 of the 50,000 soldiers brought by Su Dingshan remained. The soldiers were all covered in dust and in a state of disgrace. Under the leadership of Su Dingshan, they hurriedly fled the battlefield.
After Gulizar and Gaddafi met up, they hurriedly counted the number of people.
Including those on Jiao Zan's side who did not have time to escape, the total number of people was probably more than 90,000.
But the key point is that after this battle, the total number of elite troops brought by the two of them was less than 30,000.
Gaddafi looked at the remnants of his defeated army with a worried look on his face. He couldn't help but say to Jiao Zan, "Your Highness, if this continues, we'll likely be blocked ahead. With only these weak slaves, it will be difficult for us to return home."
At this time, he was already discouraged and did not dare to imagine what kind of difficulties he would encounter next.
Gulzar knew the situation was dire. He sighed in frustration and said, "What other options do we have? If we don't keep going, the outcome will be the same."
He really couldn't understand why he would be blocked by the army ahead even though he chose this road.
Although Su Dingshan has withdrawn now, he will definitely go back to regroup his forces, and then deploy heavy troops along the way, waiting for them to fall into his trap.
At this time, Gaddafi heard the report from his men and told Gulzar about the broken floating bridge on the river. He said, "Your Highness, the bridge on the river is broken now. Do you think Jiao Zan deliberately destroyed it?"
Gulzar had no intention of investigating who had damaged the pontoon bridge. He asked wearily, "Never mind. It doesn't matter who broke it. Do you think we should repair the bridge or continue north?"
Gaddafi thought for a moment and said, "Well... the weather is not cold now, so it's okay to repair the bridge. I..."
Before he could finish his words, he heard a soldier's report from outside: "Report! A large army is approaching from the intersection. The vanguard has 30,000 soldiers. However, there are reports that more troops are coming from ten miles away."
Upon hearing this, Gulizar's eyes were bloodshot and he angrily gnashed his teeth and cursed, "What? Are there pursuers coming from behind?"
Gaddafi quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I will take my men to fight them back."
Gulizar waved his hand and said, "No need. You lead the way in front, and I will order 20,000 slave soldiers to block the way from behind."
The matter was urgent, so he didn't dare stay here any longer. Once the Great Zhou army that had escaped ahead reacted and attacked them from both sides, it would be disastrous.