amaotonovel Chapter 1123: The Battle of the City
Chapter 1123: The Battle of the City
Chapter 1123: A Battle of the City
This group of Crusaders, in the name of holy war, burned, killed and looted all the way, heading towards Kangju City. Yao Guangxiao did not set an ambush on the road, but instead planned to defend the city with all his strength, clearing the area around Kangju City and waiting for the Crusaders to arrive.
The civilians here were mostly Semites, who had not yet been deeply assimilated into the Han culture. If they went to war rashly, they would be entering a foreign land, and they would not have much advantage, just like the Crusaders. Moreover, the concession of the Ming Dynasty was only within the city of Kangju.
Although Yao Guangxiao also practiced Buddhism, in reality, he was proficient in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and had no taboos. The compassion of Buddhism was not more important to him than the great cause of managing Central Asia for China.
He didn't care how many civilians from the three sultanates died. As long as he could hold on to Kangju City, he could wait for reinforcements from mainland China.
By then, the people of Kangju City, the Chinese concession, would be safe and sound, while other places would become wastelands, with civilians displaced... In Yao Guangxiao's view, this would highlight the superiority and strength of China. After that, more civilians of other ethnic groups would inevitably turn to China, settle in Kangju City, change their surnames to Tianyi Sect, and become part of China.
"my Lord……"
Sir John led the vanguard of the Crusaders to the city of Kangju. Looking at the city in front of him, he couldn't help but exclaimed.
It was not because of how majestic the city was. Although Kangju (Samarkand) was a large city in Central Asia, John's family was the largest aristocracy in France, and he was not a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
Let's not talk about other things, just take the Byzantine Constantinople, which is one of the most majestic cities in Europe. In terms of grandeur, it is not inferior to Kangju City.
What surprised him was the defensive arrangements of Kangju City.
The city of Kangju was high and the moat was deep, but the army inside did not choose to defend the city, but chose to line up outside the city and face the sharp vanguard of the Crusaders!
This was the decision made after discussions between Yao Guangxiao and Zhang Dingbian. Although Kangju City was a concession of the Ming Dynasty, in reality, the city was still mostly populated by civilians of various ethnic groups, and the Han people were still only a minority.
Over the years, although Yao Guangxiao has vigorously promoted the sinicization of Kangju City, it takes time to sinicize a place, and it will take more than ten years to see the results. The common people in the city may not be willing to support the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly. In addition, Kangju City has a prosperous trade, and there are many merchants coming and going. Among these merchants, there may be some who have ulterior motives.
There is another reason. The Ming army stationed in Kangju City was only a small number after all. The Han Chinese garrison in Kangju Guard Station had only 3,000 people, and the other troops were mostly recruited from local people of various ethnic groups and believers. These people lacked experience in battle formations. Although they closed the city and held on, they had the advantage of the city, but they could only passively take the beating. There was no guarantee that these troops would leave the city wall because they could not bear the pressure, causing the city defense to collapse.
But it was different when the soldiers were stationed outside the city. The army fought with their backs to the city, so they didn't have to worry about the mixed environment in the city, and they also stopped the new soldiers from escaping. It was much easier to control them.
Moreover, stationing soldiers outside the city can prevent the food supply from being cut off, and can even prevent the Crusaders from attacking the city from outside after the King of Yan's reinforcements arrive.
This was the tactic used by Yu Qian when facing Yesen's army during the Battle of Beijing in history. At this time, Yao Guangxiao also used this method to deal with the Crusaders, which was quite appropriate.
John saw the Ming army arrayed outside the city, and countless chevaux de frise trenches had been set up outside the city. He explored the surrounding area and found that there was no one living within a few miles outside the city, and there was almost no place to plunder.
Looking at the dense Ming army fortifications and the Ming army defending the city, the Crusaders originally planned to encircle the city of Samarkand (Kangju City), but looking at the current situation, John didn't know what to do for a moment.
After much hesitation, John decided to lead the Crusaders to launch a tentative attack on the Ming army.
Three hundred knights, along with their attendants and some vassal soldiers, totaling two thousand people, launched an attack on the defense line of Kangju City.
At this time, the commander of the Ming army outside the city was Zhang Dingbian. This veteran commander, who was skilled in battle formations, was troubled by the fear of the foreign soldiers who had never fought in battles and could not obey his orders.
Although these people have been trained, perhaps due to cultural differences, most of them are not easy to train and adapt, and they are not as flexible as the Han people.
Seeing that the Crusaders had sent out a part of the advance team to attempt an attack, Zhang Dingbian immediately realized that this was also an excellent opportunity to train and recruit troops.
He immediately issued an order, keeping the main force of the Ming army in place, but also dispatched a part of the Ming army and some recruited troops from various ethnic groups, totaling nearly 2,000 people, to defend against the attack of the Crusaders.
At this time, Europe was still in the late Middle Ages, and the medieval spirit of chivalry was still prevalent. As glorious knights, although they committed all kinds of burning, killing, looting and other crimes on a daily basis, they would not send cannon fodder to die.
Therefore, the three hundred knights in armor took the lead and began to charge towards the Ming army.
"Archers and crossbowmen, move forward!" Zhang Dingbian gave the military order upon seeing this.
The recruited crossbowmen left the wings of the infantry shield wall and saw the Crusader Knights charging aggressively from afar. There was a little commotion in the formation. Some people even wanted to turn around and hide in the shield wall as a reflex.
"Don't be afraid! What are you afraid of? There are so many trenches and barricades ahead, how can these Western barbarians fly over!" Seeing these foreign recruits making a commotion, the veterans of the Ming army shouted and cursed. The foreign army's generals were proficient in the Ming language, so they immediately translated the curses and told their soldiers. The recruits saw the trenches in front of them and gradually calmed down.
In front, the French knights' charging array approached the first barricade and slowly slowed down. Zhang Dingbian calculated the distance and issued the second military order: "Crossbowmen, shoot!"
"Shoot!" The new recruits and generals quickly passed on the order.
These European knights were fully armored, and crossbows might not cause much damage to them. The arrows shot out were also very wasteful. However, facing the knights' charge, the enemy could only passively take the beating, which would undoubtedly enhance the confidence and morale of these recruits. As long as the military spirit and morale were available, they could remember the content of the drill when they officially met the enemy, instead of retreating directly, which was the goal for the Ming army.
Sure enough, seeing their side unleashing a rain of arrows while the enemy could only passively take the beating without the slightest ability to fight back, the originally cowering recruits gradually stabilized their restless formation.
Arrows rained down on the ground, and some of the knights who were struggling to cross the trenches were inevitably hit by arrows in the gaps of their armor and fell to the ground. Every time a knight was shot down, there would be a cheer from the ranks of new soldiers. Some even leaned forward to shoot arrows more easily.
Zhang Dingbian was simply bullying these European knights without any long-range weapons.
But soon, the infantry in the rear of the knights also pressed forward. While helping the knights to dismantle the chevaux de frise and fill the trenches, the infantry raised their bows and arrows to fight back. Finally, sporadic casualties occurred among the recruits.
(End of this chapter)