Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 538 Dawn Comes
Guessed by Li Zuoche, the one who suddenly rushed to the vicinity of Bantian Ridge in the middle of the night under the banner of the Han army was indeed a fake arranged by Maodun. The opportunity of Li Zuoche's troops was indeed to test the reaction of the Han army, so as to prove whether the Han army was deliberately surrounded by the Huns.

In order to make the performance realistic, the Xiongnu troops pretending to be the Han army not only put on the banner of the Han army, but Zang Tu’s nearly [-] leading party members from Yandi to the grassland also went into battle, all wearing Han army uniforms that were picked up from dead bodies. Zang Tu personally led the charge to the front, so as not to be discovered by the Han army prematurely.

Maodun's plan also went very smoothly. After the fake Han army led by Zang Tu rushed to the vicinity of Bantian Ridge, they shouted and played and fought, which immediately attracted the attention of the Han army on the mountain. Bantian Ridge quickly burst into flames, killing people Surging, it was obvious that they were gathering urgently to take action. Mao Dun and Zang Tu were also secretly happy when they saw it, and they all said in their hearts: "Come down the mountain quickly, come and die quickly."

The Han army fulfilled the wish of Zang Tu and Mao Dun. After a while, amidst the confusion of torches, the cavalry of the Han army took the lead and rushed down the mountain at the fastest speed. Mao Dun and Zang Tu were even more overjoyed when they saw each other. They cheered in unison from different positions: "The tyrant (barbarian) army has been fooled!"

The Han army was indeed fooled. In order to get in touch with the supporting army as soon as possible, the cavalry of the Han army kept walking. Before the infantry went down the mountain, they rushed directly to the position of the fake Han army. The Han army stopped advancing and shouted on the spot.Shaking torches, clashing knives and guns, deliberately delaying the meeting with the Han cavalry, so that the Han infantry had time to go down the mountain to die, and the Huns ambushing around were also ready to charge. The Han army cavalry that counted down the mountain.

The Han army cavalry was more anxious to break through than Zang Tu imagined. After rushing to the vicinity at the fastest speed, the Han army cavalry desperately hacked and killed the fake Han army with red eyes, and approached the fake Han army against time. The army infantry rushed to the fake Han army when they got down to the foot of the mountain, and they couldn't wait to shout loudly to ask the origin of the fake Han army, "Where did you come from? Who is the leader?"

Seeing this scene, Zang Tu had no choice. In order not to be exposed prematurely, Zang Tu could only step forward in person and shouted at the soldiers of the Han army who were rushing forward: "We are from Mayi. General Nie sent us to meet you! Quickly, tell your infantry to follow up!"

"Ah! Terrible! Why is it him?"

When shouting here, Zang Tu suddenly cried out bitterly in his heart, and lowered his head subconsciously, because Zang Tu suddenly saw that the one who led the cavalry of the Han army to the front was Xiang Yutang, who had dealt with him many times before. Brother - Xiang Guan!However, what made Zang Tu even more miserable was still behind, Xiang Guan recognized him at a glance, and immediately roared, "Zang Tu is a traitor! It's you?!"

"I've been fooled! It's our army faked by the Xiongnu barbarians! Let's go!"

Xiang Guan yelled this outrightly and swiftly, and then pulled out his horse's head even more quickly, shouting orders to retreat, while leading the Han cavalry to charge back to the mountain. Seeing helplessness, Zang Tu could only yell loudly: " I was discovered, hurry up! Kill these tyrants! Kill——!"

Then the sound of shouting and killing really sounded, and the fake Han army led by Zang Tu shouted forward, chasing the retreating cavalry of the Han army as fast as possible.At the same time, after judging from the situation of the torches that the cavalry of the Han army had begun to retreat, although Mao Dun didn't understand why the fake Han army was spotted so quickly, he decisively ordered the beating of the drum to send out a signal to let the Huns ambushing around to kill immediately. From all directions, the cavalry of the Han army who were going down the mountain were attacked from all directions. At the same time, of course, there were ambush soldiers who attacked the Han army infantry who were still on the way down the mountain.

What followed was naturally a cruel and fierce bloody battle. In the end, less than half of the [-] Han cavalry who were tricked down the mountain were able to escape back to the mountain. Xiang Guan himself was also injured in the fierce battle, all thanks to the protection of his own soldiers It was only by luck that they escaped back to the mountain to meet Li Zuoche, while the Han army infantry, thanks to their slow movements, quickly withdrew to the top of the mountain and continued to hold on without too much loss, and was not wiped out by the Huns.

Then, when the sky was fully bright, Mao Dun naturally had to call Zang Tu in front of him, and asked him face to face why he was spotted by the Han cavalry prematurely. Neng Shi honestly admitted: "The big sweat forgives the crime, it's because of my bad luck, when I personally came forward to deceive the tyrant's army, I happened to meet Xiang Guan, the tyrant general who used to meet with my minister, so he recognized him at a glance. If it turns out that we are counterfeit."

After saying that, Zang Tu truthfully told the identity of Xiang Guan and his dealings with Xiang Guan many times. After hearing this, Mao Dun naturally yelled that he was unlucky, and said regretfully: "It's a pity, if you didn't happen to meet him People who know us, last night we were able to completely annihilate the barbarian army."

Zang Tu had no choice but to plead guilty again. Fortunately, Mao Dun was still quite generous, and waved his hand and said, "Forget it, this matter is a matter of luck, and has nothing to do with you. Fortunately, our hard work was not in vain. At least we should kill you." The young barbarians also proved that the Li Zuoche barbarians were really in a hurry to break out of the encirclement and escape, so we can continue to surround them with confidence."

After finishing speaking, Mao Dun hurriedly told Zang Tu: "Don't be idle, go and interrogate the captured barbarian soldiers, and ask what is the situation of the barbarian army on the mountain, and how much rations are there?"

Of course, the results of the interrogation of the prisoners made Mao Dun overjoyed again. Some soft-boned Han army cavalry confessed truthfully, admitting that the Han army soldiers on the mountain were severely frozen to death and frostbite. Army officers and soldiers can only eat half a day's usual dry food every day, including wounded soldiers.After hearing this, Mao Dun was naturally very happy, and decided decisively: "Continue to encircle the mountain, no matter what, we must completely wipe out this barbarian army!"

In this way, because of Li Zuoche's deliberate trick, Maodun, who had already been a little shaken, once again strengthened his determination to trap the Han army to death. The Xiongnu army, which numbered more than 30, set up camp on all sides, and surrounded the Bantianling Highland tightly. [-] to [-] Huns, old and weak, women and children, set up camp far to the east. They slaughtered cattle and sheep every day, milked them to make cheese, and fed them to the soldiers of the Huns.At the same time, Mao Dun also adopted Zang Tu's suggestion, built a wall around Bantian Ridge to completely trap the Han army, and sent people to the mountain to shout for surrender from time to time, persuading the Han soldiers on the mountain to surrender.Not to mention, because they didn't know that the dawn was right in front of them, some Han soldiers who were greedy for life and fear of death quietly went down the mountain and surrendered. In addition to letting the Xiongnu army know more about the situation of the Han army, it also seriously affected the Han army. morale of the army.After this situation was reported to Li Zuoche and Xiang Guan, Xiang Guan suggested that Li Zuoche disclose the truth to stabilize the morale of the army, but Li Zuoche firmly shook his head and said, "We must not let our soldiers know the truth. If a soft bone hears the wind, it may cause us to waste all our previous efforts!"

The tricks of the Xiongnu army were not limited to these. Three days later, Maodun adopted the suggestion of Zhang Sheng, the pioneer of the leading party, and ordered the Xiongnu soldiers to cut down countless trees from the surrounding area, pile them up at the foot of Bantianling Mountain, and set fire to the mountain. The smoke was billowing, causing many Han soldiers in high places to cry and cough continuously. Li Zuoche had no choice but to strictly enforce the military orders again and again, forcing the Han soldiers to continue to endure hard work.

It was also at this night that the situation changed a little. A Han army messenger who came from Mayi tried to sneak up the mountain from the weak encirclement of the Xiongnu army under the cover of night. Half of it was discovered by the Huns cavalry, and the letters they carried were searched out by the Huns cavalry. Not only that, they were also arrested alive, and they were taken to Modun together with the letters.

Anxious to know the movements of the Han army, Modu couldn't wait to open the letter to check the content. However, Modu was dumbfounded that besides the signature and seal of Nie Zheng, the general guard of Mayi of the Han army, there was only one written on the letter. Know Chinese characters of any meaning.Mao Dun was surprised, and hurriedly asked Zang Tu and Zhang Sheng who were present, but Zang Tu and Zhang Sheng just looked at each other, and then immediately said: "It's a secret letter! It's the tyrant army created by Xiang Kang, the dog emperor himself. secret letter!"

"What do you mean? Tell me clearly." Mo Dun asked even more puzzled.

"Great Khan, the situation is like this." Zhang Sheng replied: "I have heard that the tyrant emperor Xiang Kang personally created a secret letter in order to prevent the messenger from being intercepted during the battle, which is to make an appointment with important generals in advance. In a poem, every word on the poem represents a meaning, such as asking for help and food, what the specific meaning of the word is known only to the person who wrote and received the letter, in this way, even if the messenger is intercepted , the enemy does not know what the encrypted words on the letter represent."

"Is there still such a way to keep it secret? We can learn it?" Mao Dun exclaimed, and then asked with a glimmer of hope: "Then do you know what this word means?"

Zang Tu and Zhang Sheng shook their heads and smiled wryly, saying that they had only heard of this method, but in fact they had never used it. After hearing this, Mo Dun was disappointed, and could only point to the Han army messenger who was escorted before him and said: " You can interrogate him, ask what is going on in Mayi City, and how the Central Plains barbarians reacted, the more detailed the better."

The result of the interrogation made Mao Dun even more disappointed. Although the messenger of the Han army opened his mouth, he only explained the general situation of the Mayi defenders, and admitted that the Mayi defenders did not dare to send troops to rescue them because they had too few troops. Li Zuoche, he doesn't know anything about other situations.After hearing this, Mao Dun had no choice but to wave his hand to ask the guards to take the messenger away, and then picked up the simple book to ponder in confidence, secretly said: "Although the secret characters written by the barbarians in the Central Plains are brilliant, they must only convey some simple meanings. , What does it mean? Tell the besieged barbarians to break out? Or make an appointment to meet them? Or, reinforcements are coming soon?"

Thinking of this possibility, Mao Dun, who had too many old and weak cattle and sheep in the army, suddenly felt a little bit drummed, and subconsciously felt a sense of uneasiness, and couldn't help but said in his heart: "Did I waste too much money?" Is it time? If there is a large army of barbarians from the Central Plains, even if my army can retreat quickly, the cattle, sheep, old and weak will not be able to escape?"

It was also a coincidence that on this night, a few Han soldiers who were greedy for life and fear of death quietly went down the mountain and surrendered, letting Maodun know that the situation of the Han army on the mountain was more critical. Well, although the barbarian army on the mountain is about to run out of food, they can still kill horses and eat meat, hoping to starve them to death. , seized their weapons and armor, even if it is worth exchanging three for one, it is better to attack the mountain directly!"

After making up his mind, on the second day, Mao Dun decisively ordered the Xiongnu army to attack the top of the mountain directly on foot. The Xiongnu army fought desperately.

This battle was fought even more fiercely. In the snowstorm, the Huns soldiers in leather clothes were overwhelming, charging continuously in groups. The Xiongnu soldiers who adapted to this kind of weather fought desperately in the ice and snow. Just before noon, several key positions were already covered with corpses and pools of blood. The warm blood melted the ice and snow, and the blood flowed down the hillside, stained red. Large expanses of snow turned into blood ice.

The three thousand infantry units of the Han army were directly disabled, and all their thousand soldiers were killed and sacrificed. The feather arrows were densely packed on the mountain, and the number was comparable to weeds. At a critical moment, not only the Han army cavalry led by Xiang Guan dismounted to fight , Even Li Zuoche's direct guard was forced to go into battle, serving as the fire brigade to rescue the crumbling defense line.During this period, Li Zuoche was even ready to kill himself and die for his country.

The fierce battle lasted from early morning until it was getting dark, and the casualties were too heavy. Even though several Hun nobles ran to Maodun, weeping and wailing, begging Maodun to leave some seeds for their tribe, Maodun did not Still unmoved, he just roared with a livid face: "Order the whole army, light the torches, and let Ben Khan attack the mountain overnight! Even if it takes three days and three nights, I will kill all the barbarians in the Central Plains on the mountain!" Light!"

The torches of the Xiongnu army were quickly lit. Seeing this scene on the mountain, Li Zuoche laughed bitterly, and had to shout: "Command the whole army! Let all our soldiers know that our reinforcements are coming soon! As long as Persevere until tomorrow, our reinforcements will definitely arrive!"

When the order was conveyed, the generals of the Han army also uttered similar roars, using Li Zuoche's casually fabricated news to boost the morale of the army. As a result, this situation was quickly heard by the leading party hidden in the Xiongnu army. So he reported it to Mao Dun, who laughed and said: "I use false news to boost the morale of the army. The barbarians can't hold it anymore. Send an order to Ben Khan to attack the mountain! We wiped out the barbarians in the Central Plains on the mountain. personal……."

"Report—!"

With a panicked and anxious cry, Maodu interrupted Maodu's order. When Maodu subconsciously turned his head to look, he saw a Xiongnu scout stumbling towards him from the south, and hurriedly asked, "What's the matter? What happened in such a hurry?" ?”

"Khan! The barbarian army! The barbarian army!" The scout yelled twice in a row, and then he uttered a complete sentence, "The barbarian army from the Central Plains is here, and they crossed Juzhu Mountain at noon! The number is too large to be counted, the front team has already marched to the city of Mayi, and the rear team has not yet crossed Juzhu Mountain!"

Standing up abruptly, his face was at first whiter than his beetle's white fur, and then quickly became gloomy, turning livid and almost black!
(End of this chapter)