The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 197 The Foundation That Was Undermined

The next two days.

The Tatar army then clashed with the three major passes.

After the muskets were blown apart, the border troops switched to bows and crossbows, boiling oil, stones, and any other usable weapons.

The situation is stable.

To win with fewer troops.

Thousands of Tatar soldiers' corpses were left behind every day.

The border troops had reason to believe that if they persisted in this manner, they could drive the Tatars out of the border in less than half a month.

The other side has changed its usual blitzkrieg tactics and seems to want to wage a protracted war.

They even erected a large white tent thirty miles away from the western foot of Junma Mountain.

News of the Tatars raising the white tent reached the various David's offices.

The veterans explained to the new recruits:

"The Tatars were accustomed to using the color of their tents to frighten the defenders during sieges."

If they erect white tents, it is to tell their enemies that if they open the city gates and surrender, they will be pardoned, and the Tatar scimitars will forgive everyone who leaves the city to surrender.

If the enemy chooses to resist, the Tatars will erect red tents to signal to the enemy that those who refuse to surrender will be killed.

When the Tatars erected black tents, it meant they were preparing to massacre the city; the black tents symbolized unforgivable crimes.

The new recruits joined the veterans in mocking the old tricks of the northern royal family.

"Do the Tatars still think they're the great Yuan Empire of yesteryear? What kind of city are they besieging now? They haven't even breached the Great Wall, and they're already resorting to intimidation!"

The border troops were not only unafraid, but they also fought back more fiercely than ever before.

As always, the Tatars concentrated their border troops at the three passes, but secretly sent an engineering scout to dig under the walls at night.

The border defense line is too long, and the Great Wall, built of yellow mud, is too severely weathered.

On the third night of the battle, the Tatar army finally breached a section of the formidable city wall at the foot of Mount Junma.
It's just past midnight.

The vanguard of the Tatar army descended the mountain through a small opening on the eastern slope of Junma Mountain.

The military households of Majiabao, located only two miles from Xiaokouzi, were fast asleep.

These were military households that had settled down to cultivate the land, and the men in their families were also on duty in nearby fortresses.

The battles at the three key passes are urgent, and less than 10% of the troops remain in the fortresses.

The Tatar vanguard raised their scimitars at the elderly, women, and children.

As cries for help rang out, the border troops stationed at Majiabao realized that Tatars had breached the border defenses.

The beacon tower was lit.

The border troops in the nearby forts panicked.

"The Tatars are here!"

"The Tatars are here!"

The Tatars dispatched four 10,000-household units, totaling about 20,000 men, as an advance force.

These men dealt with the Ma family fortress, which had fewer than a thousand soldiers, and massacred the village in just half an hour.

As the flames of war were passed down.

Border troops from the three major passes began to rush towards Majiabao.

The Tatar army then launched a massacre of civilians along the road from Majiabao to the border town.

They don't only massacre cities when they raise black accounts.

If they fail to capture the border town, Outer Mongolia may be completely annexed by Tsarist Russia to the north or by the tribes in Southern Mongolia.

They will make up for all the losses they suffered on this trip by coming from the border town.

When they arrived at Dingzhenbao, they met the border troops who were arriving from three passes.

Looking at Dingzhenbao burning in the flames, the border soldiers' eyes were so red they could bleed.

Close-quarters combat ensued.
A border town fifty miles away.

The gate of courtyard number 36 was being pounded on from the outside.

"Captain Gan, Captain Gan!"

"Captain Gan, wake up! The Tatar army has breached the border defenses and is on its way to the border town!" Immediately, the sound of copper bells rang throughout the border town as a warning.

How many years has it been since I last heard that sound?!
The teenagers who were woken up didn't dare to make a fuss.

Their childhood nightmare, the Tatars, have really attacked!

There has been activity in all three main rooms of courtyard number 36.

Having witnessed the Hu people's nighttime raid on the Jinzhou Pass post station, Luo was trembling with fear.

My son hasn't come home for over twenty days.

The daughter-in-law is now being called to fight the enemy again.

Now, only she, the old woman, and her two young children remain in the house.

How to do?
How to do?
Gan Minglan carried her mother-in-law from the middle room to the east side room with one hand, and stuffed a fluffy thing into her arms.

“Mother, I’ll leave King Atu at home to protect you! Your Majesty, don’t be polite to anyone or anything that tries to enter this house with ill intentions.”

"Squeak squeak squeak Master, rest assured, this great king will definitely take good care of my younger brother and sister."

You are the one who will protect your own family.

Looking at the brother and sister sleeping sprawled out, King Atu said he could handle it with ease.

Roche's Unbelievable Path:
"Fatty's mom, are you serious? A grateful rat can guard the house too!"

“Mother, what time is it now? Would I joke about the lives of two children and yours? I will go back to my parents’ home later and bring my mother to this house to keep you company.”

"Oh, this is great! My mother-in-law and I can each take care of one child, which is just right."

The three members of the Gan family, father and sons, all volunteered to go to the front line, so naturally they couldn't leave their mother alone at home.

It took half an hour to get everyone in the family settled.

After exchanging a few more words of advice with each other, Gan Minglan locked the door and the courtyard gate before leaving Anpingfang.

On the gate tower of Zhenyuan Gate.

The soldiers guarding the city were quite uneasy when they learned that the Tatar army was about to arrive.

The night was too dark for them to see clearly.

They were still worried that if the two armies reached Zhenyuan Gate, the most powerful weapon on the gate tower, the cannon, would be unusable.

What worries them is that the border town is currently short of troops.

The Great Wall is the first line of defense on the border. Once the defense is breached, the morale of the border troops is also easily broken.

Just when they were at a loss, another person appeared beside them.

The man asked, "Where did the fire on the beacon tower start? And through which breach did the Tatars break through the defenses?"

The centurion on duty didn't even turn his head, but pointed ahead and replied:

"The first place to catch fire was Majiabao, which is closest to the Xiaokouzi gap. The Tatars must have come down the mountain from there."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw a dark figure leap down from the city gate, startling him so much that his heart pounded.

"Holy crap! Is this some kind of light-footed skill?"

His subordinates, however, shouted excitedly:
"It's Captain Gan! Captain Gan has gone out of the city to kill the Tatars! Captain Gan, you'd better show the same prowess you displayed when you were killing the Hu people at Jinzhou Pass!"

Gan Minglan almost strained her back from that shout.

Time is of the essence; the situation is urgent.

All the people saw was a dark shadow at the city gate, rushing towards Junma Mountain like the wind.

Then, it seemed as if the sound of horses' hooves could be heard again.

Where did the horse come from?
Naturally, it was the Horse King that was taken into the spatial dimension.

They have been living with two hundred cattle for the past few days.

If it weren't for the abundance of doggrass and grass seeds, the wild horses would have gone crazy from being suffocated in the cramped space.

I'm getting impatient.

They've moved to a different place in no time.

They happily followed the horse king and rushed towards Mount Junma.

(End of this chapter)