People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 317: Kill the Emperor of Dai Viet with one cannon

In early August, the Song army was unstoppable. It took only a few days to set up artillery positions outside Lang Son Pass and completely defeated the Vietnamese army.

After that, the Song army occupied Langzhou City, assembled a main force of about 40,000 people, and marched south again in a mighty manner, directly taking Zhilengguan.

At this time, Li Foma gathered up Guo Shengyi's defeated soldiers and stationed about 80,000 troops to guard the pass.

Zhilengguan cannot be said to be towering into the clouds, but it is extremely dangerous. It is located between two mountains. Looking at the terrain, it is somewhat similar to Loushanguan, a famous pass in my country.

There are endless mountains with endless mountains. The mountains were originally emerald green, almost black and green, but now they are increasingly yellow and brown. Fallen leaves are flying, covering the road that is not very spacious.

The scouts of the Song Dynasty walked one foot deep among the fallen leaves, and various bird calls and whistles came from the deep mountains and old forests on both sides from time to time, reminding them that there were no enemies nearby.

These scout troops are the most elite ethnic minority troops selected by Di Qing to be responsible for front-line reconnaissance and early warning work.

In fact, in ancient times, the ethnic composition of northern Vietnam, that is, the Red River Delta, was not complicated. It was mainly composed of Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Han and other ethnic groups in the southwest.

They are good at fighting in the mountains and forests, but the Guangxi ethnic minority troops recruited by Di Qing come from the same origin as them and are equally good at fighting in the mountains and forests. The two sides can be said to be at odds with each other, both fighting in their own areas of expertise.

With their help, almost all the traps dug by the Vietnamese army on the road, the ambushes set up in the mountains and forests, and the reconnaissance posts hidden nearby were all wiped out easily.

This kettle was made in a steel factory. It was convenient for soldiers to fetch water, make a fire on the spot, boil the water and drink it with them.

Li Yi, the commander of the firearms army, vaguely saw the pass in the distance and asked curiously: "General, are the Jiaozhi people stupid? They suffered a big loss last time, why do they dare to defend the pass this time?"

Between the east and west mountains, there are many slopes, grasslands, and woods. There are still many places where you can set up camp. All you need to do is remove the weeds and basil.

"If you ask me, they are not stupid, but they are helpless. Facing my Great Song Heavenly Army, how can they resist stubbornly? It's just a dead end."

The soldiers of the Li Dynasty were all huddled in Zhileng Pass without any intention of coming out.

"Don't underestimate them."

"Clear a clearing immediately."

More than ten minutes later, Tan Ma came to report that the vanguard army had arrived outside the pass.

The only problem is that Nong Zhigao's ethnic minority coalition troops do not have the standard equipment of the Song Dynasty Firearms Army, and many people have already left the battle order because of stomach upsets caused by drinking raw water.

Not long after, the firearms army also arrived outside the pass and joined the vanguard army in front.

Zhang Yu then commanded the soldiers to set up camp at the foot of the mountain.

Di Qing put his hands behind his back, his white cloak swaying in the wind, shook his head and said: "War is not a child's play, and you cannot fool any enemy like a fool."

The orders were passed on one after another, and Di Qing then prepared to go into the mountain to observe the terrain.

Di Qing looked around to check the terrain. They were in a col between two mountains. Although the Zhilengguan Ancient Road is narrow, it is not the kind of mountain path that is only a few meters long.

However, gunpowder supplies are very important. Once there is a spark, it will have extremely serious consequences and cause the Song Army to suffer huge losses.

Since civilians and artillery are in the rear, the current army is composed of ethnic minority troops and the firearms corps. Therefore, the firearms corps forms a vigil outside the camp, while the ethnic minority troops begin to cut down trees and build camps.

"Two things?"

Di Qing sat on his horse and staggered forward. Today was already the twenty-first day of the march, and he was only ten miles away from Zhileng Pass.

"First arrange for soldiers from each unit to take turns going to the mountain spring found by the scouts to replenish the consumed kettles."

Under the leadership of the scout, Di Qing and several lieutenants went up a nearby hill with a low slope and a good view.

Because the Magistrate told him before arriving that Annan had a tropical monsoon and tropical rainforest climate, and it was almost impossible for a large-scale fire to break out unless napalm was used.

However, they are not the main force in the war, so there is no need to worry. As long as the firearms army is not infected with the disease on a large scale, it will not pose a great threat to military operations.

Di Qing immediately ordered to set up camp outside the pass.

The current equipment of the firearms army is still relatively advanced. In addition to muskets, they also have gunpowder backpacks, steel kettles, and steel knives on their waists.

Another commander, Liu Qing, said with a smile.

"Let's enter the camp as normal tonight. Each department will arrange sentries and don't let the enemy take advantage of it."

no way.

Li Yi was puzzled and said: "If it were me, I would have been out of seclusion long ago. No matter what, it would be time to conduct a trial attack."

Standing on the slope, Di Qing looked into the distance. There was almost no movement around him. The autumn wind gently blew through the hills, and the leaves and grass rustled.

As for the lack of water sources, he was not worried. He did not plan to fight a protracted war. Basically, wherever he went, he found a water source to fill the kettles, and then ordered all the soldiers in the army to boil water when drinking water.

At this moment, Di Qing was sitting in the Chinese army, which consisted of seven thousand musketeers. The artillery was still in the rear, escorted by Nong Zhigao.

"Be careful when lighting a fire to make food. Although it is almost impossible to make a big fire here, be careful of the gunpowder being ignited."

Therefore, fire prevention with gunpowder and other supplies is a top priority wherever we go.

He looked around the mountains, looking for a suitable place to install the cannon, and prepared to bombard the Vietnamese army at Xiongguan again.

"That can only mean two things."

He was not worried that the Vietnamese army would set fire to it.

But it is autumn, and autumn leaves are flying, so it is not easy to clear a large open space.

"Then why haven't they made any move yet?"

"No need to dig trenches, just put up fences and tents first."

This mountain is about thirty to forty feet high, which is about a hundred meters. Unlike the surrounding mountains that are far away and densely forested, with big trees blocking out the sky and the sun, this mountain has almost no trees, only countless weeds and basil.

Compared with muskets, cannons that can weigh hundreds of kilograms or even thousands of kilograms have poor maneuverability, especially in such jungle and mountainous operations, where they can only move step by step.

"First, the enemy has just experienced a major defeat, their morale is low, and they dare not send troops immediately. Second, they are brewing a bigger conspiracy."

Di Qing said calmly.

Zhang Mao, the commander of South Guangxi Road, scratched his head and said: "General, what conspiracy are they brewing?"

"Learn to think on the enemy's side."

Di Qing lowered his head and thought.

If he were on the enemy general's side, facing the Song army's firearms, he might be helpless.

However, it is not completely impossible. Perhaps we can use our own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

So what are the strengths of the Vietnamese army?

Naturally, they live in the mountains for a long time and walk over the mountains and ridges as if they were walking on flat ground.

In contrast, only the ethnic minority troops of the Song Army could do this, and the firearms army was very reluctant.

So if he is a Vietnamese army, he is very likely to take advantage of this and send a large number of soldiers to attack the Song army from the mountains and forests while they are assembling cannons.

After all, it is best for the Song Army's cannons to be placed on mountains, where they can have a longer range and greater power.

but..

They obviously don't know the power of muskets yet.

Thinking of this, Di Qing almost had a countermeasure. He just needed to be careful of what the Vietnamese army was best at.

It's getting late.

The Song army outside the pass has built several simple camps, surrounded by fences on the outside and tents on the inside.

There are no fortifications, no horses, barbed wire, or anything like that.

In the mountains and forests on both sides, countless pairs of eyes appeared, staring at the torch-lit camp of the Song Army from a long distance away.

The wind was blowing, and the soldiers on the night shift in the firearms army raised their heads at night. Occasionally, they could hear various screams echoing deep in the mountains several miles away.

Scouts from both sides fought to the death in the mountains and forests. This was a war without gunpowder. If the two sides meet in the mountains and both discover each other, if they fail to match the secret signals, they will instantly use crossbows, blowguns, and even swords, guns, and sticks.

Such a brutal fight is like the law of the dark jungle.

Especially when the opponent is accidentally noticed by the enemy, no matter whether they are one of their own, they will often act immediately, causing accidental injuries to teammates.

But there is nothing that can be done about it.

Relying on the fighting of ethnic minority soldiers, the Song army slowly established a foothold outside the pass, and the camp was built to a place about four miles away from Zhileng Pass.

The large and small mountains on both sides were basically occupied by the Song army, and the price paid was hundreds of casualties.

However, there was no victory for the Vietnamese army. They also lost many people.

After five or six days, Nong Zhigao led the civilian husband and artillery team to finally reach the front line of Zhilengguan.

Since Zhilengguan is on an uphill slope, if you fire directly from outside the pass, most of the shells will probably only hit the wall of Zhilengguan, so you still have to go up the mountain.

After Nong Zhigao arrived, Di Qing immediately ordered the civilians to cut down trees on the mountain range on the right that they had already selected and open a road into the mountain.

This information was quickly discovered by Vietnamese army scouts hiding in nearby mountains, and they returned to Guanzhong and reported it to Li Foma.

At this time, Li Fuma was inspecting the enemy's situation at the pass. The mountains outside the pass were vast and smokey. The mountains on their right were actually not high, just hills about 34 feet high, and there were also some flat plains.

Later, Chi Leng County in Vietnam was located nearby. A small river slowly flowed out from the mountains. The vegetation was lush and it was as vast as a grassland in the wilderness.

On the left is the branch of Langshan, so the mountain is much higher. There are hundreds of mountains and ridges everywhere, and the roads are extremely rugged and difficult to travel.

The mountain road opened by Di Qing and others is on the left side of Li Foma and others.

"Report!"

The scout came back, hurriedly ran to the gate, knelt down on one knee and said to Liverma: "Your Majesty, the enemy has already started to open up the mountain road."

"Yes, I understand."

Liverma nodded and looked deeply to the northwest, where the mountains were steep and there were cliffs. He seemed to be able to sense that maybe the enemy could actually project the black ball into the pass from several miles away.

After the scouts left, Liverma turned back to look at the generals around him and said, "Everyone, the enemy wants to repeat their old tricks again and defeat us by throwing black balls into the barrier. We must not let them succeed."

"Your Majesty, give me the order. I will fight to the death."

"At this time, my army immediately went deep into the forest, suddenly rushed out, and killed all the civilians who opened the way for them. They were helpless." "When it comes to fighting in this mountain forest, our Dai Viet soldiers are more than a hundred times stronger than their Song army! "

Li Fengxiao, Du Qing, Ban Shiyonghe, Ban Du Xingru and other generals said one after another.

"it is good."

When Li Foma reached this pass, he no longer hesitated and immediately shouted: "The news comes, Prime Minister, you lead 20,000 people, immediately enter the mountain from the left side of the pass, and attack in a detour."

"Yes!"

Li Fengxiao agreed.

Li Fuma said again: "General Du, you lead ten thousand people, take a detour from the right side of the pass, and harass their camp."

"Yes."

Du Qing agreed.

"The rest of the people, once the fighting starts, come out with me and fight the enemy fiercely!"

"Yes!"

Everyone drank violently.

At this time, Dai Viet was at a critical moment of life and death and could only fight to the death.

Soon, at noon, the civilians of the Song Army opened a road from the slope into the mountain. Trees were being cut down and weeds were being cleared.

Nature is majestic, but human power is not useless. At least the power gathered by tens of thousands of people is not insignificant.

Some people cut down trees, pushed the wood down and rolled it down the mountain.

Some farmers spread the cut weeds on the ground to form a road up the mountain.

There were also farmers digging rammed earth to carve out a slope in the steep, almost roadless mountain.

Under the command of the general, everyone performed their duties with amazing efficiency.

But it's normal.

After all, it is just a road that can accommodate artillery, not a highway. The difficulty is not at the same level.

In just half a day's work, they built a dirt road that was about 70 to 80 feet long and about a foot wide. A cart might not be able to go up, but the civilians could carry the gun barrel up.

In the afternoon, this steep road, which is expected to be 200 feet long, or more than 600 meters long, will be repaired to meet the needs of artillery troops going up the mountain to install cannons.

Soon after Shenshi arrived, the road gradually became clearer. Di Qing gave an order, and the artillery crew members began to go up the mountain with small steel cannons.

But at this time, a sudden change occurred.

In the distant mountains and forests, birds were flying in fright, and the forest leaves were whirling.

Then a harsh whistle sounded throughout the world.

"General, enemy attack!"

A minority leader shouted to Di Qing in panic.

"It doesn't matter."

Di Qing looked over there in silence.

As he expected, the enemy chose to launch the attack from the densely wooded mountains.

But what the other party obviously doesn't know is that in fact, if it is just to build an ordinary road up the mountain, tens of thousands of people will not be needed at all.

Then why did he send so many people there?

Because their role is to clear away all vegetation within a hundred meters on the west side of the road up the mountain.

Use an ax to chop, use a knife to cut, and be sure to leave an area with a relatively open field of vision for a hundred meters on the west side of this slope, which is only five or six hundred meters long.

At this moment, on the mountain, about thousands of firearms troops escorted the artillery carriage and began to move up the mountain. Various sounds were heard in the nearby forest.

There were screams, whistles, and horns.

Within a short time, many Song Army scouts who had been sent out to lurk in the mountains and forests ran out, shouting as they ran: "Hurry up, the enemy is coming."

However, the firearms army turned a deaf ear. Zhang Yu looked at them indifferently and just shouted: "Send the order and let them run down the mountain."

"Yes."

Immediately, dozens of soldiers ran out to meet the scouts who ran out, and ordered them to flee down the mountain.

Behind them, there were endless rustling sounds in the forest.

Countless Vietnamese soldiers wearing various costumes vaguely emerged from it. When they saw the Song army raising the barrel of a gun in the distance outside the forest, they yelled in their language: "It's the Song army, kill them!"

"Kill!"

A shocking roar erupted in the forest.

Zhang Yu just said: "Get ready!"

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Thousands of muskets lined up in a long line on the slope, guarding the artillery behind them, with their muzzles pointed at the Vietnamese army in the distance.

An artillery squad leader and his artillery crew members were moving up the mountain step by step, carrying a small steel cannon barrel of more than 100 kilograms, and happened to meet an acquaintance.

He couldn't help but greet the musketeer with envy: "Old Wang, it's better for you to take it easy, the musket is only so heavy."

"It's a war, be serious and don't disturb me."

That Lao Wang was a gunman in the third row. Although he did not fire in front, he had to prepare for the third stage of shooting. He did not dare to turn around and talk to acquaintances, and stared fixedly in front.

"Ok."

The artillery squad leader vaguely saw a war supervisor looking in front of him, so he had to shut up, change his shoulders, and continue climbing up the mountain with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"Fire!"

Zhang Yu roared loudly.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The sound of huge muskets resounded through the sky, followed by white smoke and countless lead bullets shot out of the barrel.

In an instant, two to three hundred Vietnamese soldiers who ran out of the forest were shot. They fell down suddenly as if they were hit hard.

No one around them knew what was going on. Many people didn't even know that such a situation existed. They only knew how to charge forward when they heard loud noises in front of them and then smoke.

I can only keep running forward when I am confused.

But the next second, the firearms soldiers from the second row came one after another and continued to fire.

Then the first row went back to reload, and the third row fired.

Then the first row comes out to fire, the second row prepares, the third row reloads, and so on.

Di Qing deployed five thousand musketeers on the mountain road, and the firepower was so dense that the long slope was completely covered, leaving almost no room for leakage.

Countless Vietnamese soldiers fell down inexplicably. It was not until a few breaths passed that they had not rushed in front of the Song army. Thousands of Vietnamese soldiers who were running the fastest in front were shot and fell to the ground. Only those behind realized that something was wrong. .

At this time, the ground outside the forest was already wailing. Many people did not die immediately after being shot, but screamed in pain. Blood immediately flowed all over the ground, irrigating the surrounding weeds that had not been cleared away.

"What is going on? The Song Army has sorcery. This is the Song Army's sorcery."

"God, they can kill people from afar."

"Run!"

A large number of Vietnamese soldiers finally collapsed and fled one after another.

The Song army did not pursue them, they just watched.

At the same time, the camp at the foot of the mountain was also raided by the Vietnamese army. Di Qing left more than 2,000 firearms troops behind and easily repelled them.

However, since the camp was far away from the pass and the battle was on the mountain, I couldn't see the situation clearly.

Li Fuma was still looking outside anxiously at this time. He only saw chaos outside, especially the Song Army camp, where densely packed Song Army soldiers were running back and forth.

"They must have succeeded."

Liang Maocai shouted.

Being too far away and obscured by high mountains, I really don’t know what happened specifically, but it seems that they have at least succeeded in keeping the Song army in chaos.

"Okay, come out of seclusion and follow me to kill the enemy!"

Liverma knew that the opportunity to fight could not be delayed. Although he did not know whether he was losing or winning outside, what if he was on the verge of losing and was close to finishing?

So sometimes you have to make a decision. Compared to Zhao Zhen, Li Foma is actually a more decisive person.

At that moment, he immediately ordered the pass to be opened, and the entire army attacked towards the Song Army camp.

A quarter of an hour later, the gate of Zhilengguan opened, and countless Vietnamese troops swarmed out.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

But at this moment, everyone heard terrifying loud noises.

They couldn't hear the muskets in the mountains, still four or five miles away, but the sound of the artillery was like thunder in their ears.

In an instant, many people raised their heads and saw countless pitch-black balls heading towards them in the sky.

Among them, Li Fuma was riding on horseback, and he was on a military expedition. When he raised his head, he saw a black ball, as if it had eyes, pointed right in his direction!

"boom!"

Before Liverma could react, he and his horse disappeared in the roar.

(End of this chapter)