Ever since the new Emperor ascended to the throne, the Mutant Army, especially the cavalry, had been entering and exiting the city gates. No one knew what they were up to, but after a while, everyone got used to it.
This was only on the surface. Every night, Chang 'an City would be filled with killing intent.
With the help of the court officials, Ouyang Shuo mobilized the Divine Guards to carry out a huge purge in Chang 'an City, trying to remove as many of An Lushan's spies as possible.
However, time was limited, and the Divine Guards were not professionals in this field. The officials in the court all had their own thoughts, so the purge did not go smoothly.
There were bound to be fish that slipped through the net in Chang 'an City.
Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to order Shi Hu to strengthen the city gates and cut off all communication channels.
… …
On the fourth day of the battle, at Baqiao.
Baqiao was located ten miles east of Chang 'an City on the Baqiao River. It was the east gate of Chang' an City and connected to the main traffic routes in the east.
Early in the morning, Ouyang Shuo secretly rushed to Baqiao to bid farewell to Feng Qiuhuang and the rest.
The trick of soldiers entering and leaving Chang 'an City was just to cover up the withdrawal of the main force from the barracks. There were only 20,000 Tiger Leopard Cavalry left in the barracks east of Chang 'an City, led by Ma Xiu.
The remaining 100,000 cavalrymen were led by Ran Min, Ma Chao, and Feng Qiuhuang. They headed north to Lingwu City to meet up with Guo Ziyi's Tang Dynasty army.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to use Chang 'an City as bait to attract the main force of the rebel army and buy time for Guo Ziyi to wipe out Shi Siming's army in one fell swoop before heading straight for An Lushan's nest, Fanyang.
In order to end the battle quickly, Ouyang Shuo did not hesitate to take the risk and mobilized 100,000 cavalrymen to help.
With the help of these elite soldiers and the ability of Guo Ziyi, he would definitely be able to destroy the rebel army in one fell swoop without the impediment of the eunuchs and military governors.
The prerequisite was that Chang 'an City had to survive the main force of the rebel army.
As soon as the new Emperor ascended to the throne, he sent out a summons to the entire country and ordered the entire country to protect the Emperor. If Chang 'an was lost, everything would be over.
In order to defend Chang 'an City, other than recruiting new soldiers, Ouyang Shuo, in the name of the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains, ordered the military governor of Jiannan to lead thirty thousand elite soldiers to reinforce Chang' an City.
Roughly estimating, the troops guarding Chang 'an consisted of 30,000 mountain barbarian heavy infantry, 20,000 Tiger Leopard Cavalry, 30,000 Jiannan elites, and 60,000 newly reorganized recruits, amounting to a total of 140,000 soldiers.
The number of young adults recruited was estimated to be around one hundred thousand.
With this army, Ouyang Shuo was confident that he could fight against the rebel army.
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
The preparation for war in Chang 'an was coming to an end. The vanguard of the rebel army had also appeared on the outskirts of Chang' an. Just a day ago, the Jiannan Regional Commander finally arrived at Chang 'an with thirty thousand elite soldiers.
A great battle was about to begin.
On the tenth day of the battle, the main force of the rebel army finally arrived outside Chang 'an.
Apart from the three hundred thousand mutant soldiers, An Lushan's camp also had a hundred and fifty thousand rebel soldiers under the command of An Lushan's son, An Qingxu.
An elite army of 450,000 was enough to devour everything.
Apart from that, there was also a group of special guests in the army. They were dressed in tattered clothes and their faces were filled with fear. They were ordinary citizens who were herded forward by the army like cattle.
The army set up camp ten miles outside Chang 'an City. Just a little further ahead was the Ba River.
Di Chen and the rest rode across the Ba River and observed the towering Chang 'an City from afar. Seeing the moat outside Chang' an City, Di Chen smiled. "I knew the old fox would play this trick."
In the battle of Muye, Ouyang Shuo had used the moat to win a battle. Now, he was using the same trick again.
"He's at his wit's end." Lord Chunshen smiled confidently.
After watching for a while, Di Chen spurred his horse back.
"Let's go back. We'll officially attack the city tomorrow. I want to see what other tricks the old fox has up his sleeve."
… …
The next morning, the vast army crossed the Ba River and arrived at the city.
The north and east sides of Chang 'an City were protected by wide moats and moats, making it difficult to attack. This time, the rebel army chose to attack the city from the west and south gates.
The vast army circled around the east gate and got into position.
In order to avoid confusion, Di Chen and An Qingxu agreed that the 300,000 mutants would be responsible for attacking the south gate, while the 150,000 rebels would be responsible for attacking the west gate.
Just getting the army into position took two hours.
On the city walls, the newly reorganized new army looked at the vast army outside the city with panic in their eyes. They had just learned how to line up, and now they were thrown into a cruel battlefield.
In order to train the new army, Ouyang Shuo divided the 60,000 new army equally between the west and south walls. The 30,000 Jiannan elite soldiers and 30,000 Barbarian heavy infantry were also stationed on the two sides.
Other than that, the Barbarian infantry also served as supervisors.
The real battle started at ten o 'clock in the morning. Groups of ordinary people were being driven by the army as they laboriously pushed siege vehicles, catapults, and mobile arrow towers towards the city walls.
When they came across a moat, a temporary bridge was built.
Under Di Chen's suggestion, these commoners were conscripted by An Qingxu from around Tong Pass. They were to be used as cannon fodder to reduce the losses of the army.
"These bastards, they're insane!"
Shi Hu and the other generals couldn't help but feel pity for them. However, this was a battle of life and death, and there was no room for mercy.
"Fire!"
With an order, the catapults on the city walls began to move.
Sharp whistles tore through the sky one after another, and black spots rose up on the city tower, like a flock of 'sparrows' soaring into the sky. The densely packed stones rapidly expanded in the field of vision. Thousands of stones the size of millstones fell from the sky with a terrible momentum, like a dense meteor shower falling into the sea, splashing blood red waves. Hundreds and thousands of innocent commoners lay in pools of blood, dying the ground beneath their feet red.
The mournful wails of the commoners resounded through the clouds, moving the hearts of those who saw them. The soldiers guarding the city couldn't bear to see them die. Those were their fellow countrymen! However, military orders were absolute. They could only cry silently as they launched their attacks.
Di Chen and the rest didn't have the slightest bit of mercy. After one batch was killed, another batch was sent in.
"Those who dare to retreat will be killed without mercy," Di Chen ordered the law enforcers.
For the commoners, there was still a chance of survival if they moved forward, but they would definitely be executed if they retreated. They had no choice but to move forward.
In this chaotic world, lives were like grass.
Since the battle map didn't have any side effects, it was easier to arouse the dark side of people. Ouyang Shuo had abolished officials at will in Chang 'an, used the national treasury at will, and conscripted laborers. Di Chen didn't care about the lives of the commoners, and trampled on them wantonly.
With the army in their hands, they could change the rules of the battle at will.
For the commoners on the battle map, no matter which side they were on, they were all demons from another world.
As soon as the battle began, it was a long-range competition between the two sides. The goal of the rebel army was clear. They wanted to suppress the long-range firepower of the defending army through the catapults and mobile arrow towers, clearing the way for the infantry to attack.
In less than an hour, more than ten thousand commoners had died on the battlefield. Their corpses filled the trenches, completing their mission.
Di Chen smiled with satisfaction and gave the order to attack. He seemed to have seen the moment when the army broke through the city walls, entered the city, and captured Ouyang Shuo alive.
Victory was at hand.
"Kill!"
The elite divisions stepped on the corpses of the commoners, braving the rain of arrows, and charged toward the city wall.
The tide of people was like a mountain or a sea. The rumbling of the carriages, the clanking of the armors, and the whistling of the horses made the defending soldiers on the city wall feel a chill in their hearts.
When the dark mass of the army was five hundred meters away from the city wall, the defending army's counterattack began.
"Fire at will!"
The catapults were suppressed by the rebel army, but the defending army still had strong bows and crossbows.
A dense rain of arrows poured down, bringing with it uncountable death and fear.
Without orders, even if there was a mountain of knives and a sea of fire in front of them, the rebel army soldiers didn't dare to take a step back. They stepped on the blood of the square formation in front of them, and launched wave after wave of attacks.
The closer they got to the city wall, the fiercer the counterattack of the defending army became. Arrows poured down like a storm, and stones fell in large numbers like birds. The falling stones were so heavy that the ground trembled when they hit it.
The stones fell in the battle formation, smashing big holes in the ground. The rebel army soldiers were swept down one after another, crying and screaming.
The rebel army soldiers only cared about rushing forward, regardless of the casualties.
At this moment, the area within a hundred meters of the western and southern city walls had become hell. Hundreds of large crossbows installed on the city tower fired at the same time, sweeping away waves and waves of arrows. The arrows covered the sky, and wherever they went, blood and flesh flew.
In this terrible storm of metal, flesh and blood were as fragile as paper. The soldiers in the front row didn't even have time to shout for help before they were instantly smashed to pieces.
Screams, moans, blood, death, and people trampled each other in panic. The rain of arrows flew like locusts, and the sharp sound of the wind piercing through the air filled the air. It was suffocating.
Arrows flew everywhere, and stones fell like hailstones. The rebel army didn't dare to look up or take a step. Some soldiers tried to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead, but they were immediately trampled into meat paste by the follow-up troops.
The soldiers screamed, cried, and huddled together, trampling each other. Some people tried to hide, but their heads were trampled by panicked warhorses. Miserable screams came from far away. It didn't sound like a battlefield, but more like a slaughterhouse.
On the top of the battle formation, Di Chen and the others looked serious.
Before the battle started, they never thought that the counterattack of the Chang 'an defending army would be so fierce.
"Didn't they say that the old fox only brought cavalry? Where did he get the defending army? "Di Chen was puzzled, and for the first time, he felt a trace of uneasiness.
The cannon fodder tactic had a good start, but it didn't bring the good result that Di Chen wanted.
The one hundred thousand young men that Ouyang Shuo had temporarily recruited had made the greatest contribution in this battle. In close combat, these men, who weren't even recruits, really couldn't do much.
But they were very competent in operating the crossbows, throwing stones, throwing logs, and transporting supplies. In times of danger, these men showed the courage and bravery of the Tang Dynasty men. They were not afraid of death.
In order to protect their wives and children in the city, they didn't hesitate to fight to the death.
The Tang Dynasty's heroic spirit could be seen clearly.
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