White-robed Minister

Chapter 199 0197 [Winning the Battle]

We can't take our time attacking a mountain; we have to take it down in one fell swoop.

This is because there are not many troops guarding the mountain; at most, there are only one or two thousand men.

Deploying too many troops on the mountain would be difficult, so food and water had to be transported up there. Food could be transported and stored early, but water had to be stored in containers.

If the Song army cannot take it in one go, the enemy will continue to replenish its defensive forces, and then it will become a war of attrition with piecemeal tactics.

All elite troops are committed to the battle!

Wang Junwan and Xiang Bao even took the lead, directly leading their troops to participate in the first wave of attacks.

Wang Junwan climbed the densely vegetated hillside, unable to see any enemy defenses. Fortunately, the Qiang soldiers who had been sent to scout ahead the previous day had cut down many shrubs and vines blocking his path, allowing him to ascend the mountain more quickly.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Several arrows were fired from the shadows, and some soldiers behind Wang Junwan were hit. However, most of the arrows were obstructed by the bushes and missed their target.

These arrows came from the outer garrison, who were Qiang hunters from the mountains. They weren't very good at fighting in formation, but they were adept at shooting arrows from the dense forest. They were few in number and would usually fire one arrow and then retreat, never engaging the Song army in battle.

Wang Junwan buried his head and climbed quickly, unaware that an arrow had struck his shoulder. His leather armor protected it, and the arrow hadn't penetrated deeply. He broke off the arrow and continued forward.

Wang Junwan, not knowing how many soldiers had been lost, finally reached the enemy's defensive fortifications.

It was an earthen platform halfway up the mountain, which the enemy had modified to be relatively flat, large enough to accommodate thirty or forty people for defense. There were also piles of sandstone and earthen blocks.

"Hide behind the tree!"

Wang Junwan shouted.

Sandstone and clods of earth were pushed down like rolling stones, accompanied by twenty or thirty arrows.

Wang Junwan hid behind a tree and exchanged fire with the enemy, climbing up little by little. Once he got close, he threw away his bow and arrows, drew his sword, and charged forward.

Because he was at the forefront, he was immediately targeted by enemy fire and was hit by four arrows in an instant. When he rushed to the foot of the fortification, three more spears came thrusting at him.

Wang Junwan stretched out his left arm, grabbed a long spear, and pulled it down, dragging the enemy above him down. He dodged a shot to the side, but was stabbed in the chest by another spear.

Wang Junwan was knocked down by an enemy who had fallen, slit the man's throat with his sword, snatched the man's spear, stood up, and rejoined the battle, exchanging blows with the defenders.

"Kill the thieves! Kill the thieves!"

Despite being wounded in multiple places, Wang Junwan's fighting spirit remained undiminished, and instead, it fueled his fighting will.

Seeing his bravery, his soldiers disregarded their own lives and rushed forward in a frenzy.

Less than a quarter of an hour into the close combat, Wang Junwan led his troops to break through the enemy lines, and the remaining enemies turned and fled.

Covered in blood, Wang Junwan was still screaming, "Kill the traitors! Kill the traitors!"

His soldiers were filled with unstoppable momentum, following him in a relentless pursuit.

Xiang Bao's fighting style, however, is quite different.

This man once killed a tiger with a single arrow, and his subordinate Wang Shunchen was a human machine gun. Of the three thousand archers he brought from the two capitals, only one thousand remained after selection and redeployment.

The remaining thousand men were all skilled in archery and horsemanship, especially archery, which was above average.

Enemies on the perimeter rushed in to fire arrows, but Xiang Bao and Wang Shunchen immediately retaliated with their bows and arrows. Their accuracy exceeded 90%, and the enemies lying in ambush above were hit without warning as soon as they exposed themselves.

After exchanging fire, it was the enemy who had fired the sneak arrows who fled in panic, leaving behind more than ten corpses.

When they reached the enemy's defensive fortifications, Xiang Bao, Wang Shunchen, and their soldiers did not rush to attack, but remained hidden—

They exchanged fire with the enemy from behind the tree.

The Qiang people, who were defending and firing from their high vantage point, were so afraid to show their faces because of the arrows fired by this army.

Then Xiang Bao organized his troops to attack, while he and Wang Shunchen provided cover with arrows. They broke through the defenses in one fell swoop, even faster than Wang Junwan's side.

Yu Longke's elite Qiang troops were much weaker.

Both sides were mountain Qiang hunters, and they were still shooting at each other for a long time. They ran out of arrows and could only pick up the arrows shot by the enemy and shoot them back.

Shenji Battalion.

Aside from being tall and strong, Yu Ping's martial arts skills were not particularly outstanding in any aspect.

His ability to command the Shenji Battalion was purely due to his previous position as the chieftain of Guwei Village. After Xu Lai took office, Guwei Village became a military stronghold of the Tongyuan Army, and Yu Ping became Xu Lai's direct subordinate.

Two hundred and a half burly men, wearing leather armor on the outside and silk armor on the inside, carrying three-eyed spears in their hands, and with hemp ropes for starting fires coiled around their waists.

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What bothered them most were the bush branches, because the fire rope would always get inexplicably caught when they bent over to climb the hillside.

"Get a fire!"

When faced with an enemy who was shooting arrows from the shadows, Yu Ping immediately hid behind a tree.

He took out the standard fire tinder from the Shenji Battalion, which was a copper tube. The core inside was made of plant fibers and rolled paper, and also mixed with sulfur and other combustion aids.

After the cap was removed, air rushed in immediately, and the smoldering wick reignited rapidly with the help of oxygen and the oxidizer.

Yu Ping lit the fuse at his waist, too lazy to even observe the enemy's hiding place. He held the three-eyed halberd at his waist and lit the fuse with the fuse.

"boom!"

A volley of shotgun shells was fired.

Nine small lead pellets were fired forward.

Several squads of Shenji Battalion soldiers were doing the same thing. Amidst puffs of smoke, sounds rose and fell from the woods.

This situation appeared extremely bizarre to the enemy. Especially after some unlucky individuals were hit by shrapnel, the Qiang hunters thought the Song army possessed sorcery.

After the first volley of fire ended, the Shenji Battalion soldiers who hadn't fired from the rear immediately rushed forward with their three-barreled muskets. Meanwhile, the soldiers who had just fired a shot took the opportunity to reload.

"Sorcery! Han people know sorcery!"

"It's not sorcery, it's divine lightning."

The Qiang hunters who had fired the arrows were terrified. After fleeing back to their fortifications, they spread their fear to their allies, causing panic among the other Qiang soldiers.

When Yu Ping led his troops to the vicinity of the fortifications and ordered the three-eyed mortars to fire, the enemy at this defensive point immediately collapsed, with casualties less than 5%.

The enemy's mountain defense force numbered 1500.

The perimeter guards and delaying personnel, namely the Qiang hunters who fired sneak arrows, totaled 300 people.

The core defensive position, which is a strategic location on the mountainside, was defended by 800 people.

There is also a reserve team of 300 people near the summit.

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The remaining 100 people were command and logistics personnel.

With the Song army breaking through one defensive line after another, the Qiang people's reserves did not know where to go and could only urgently send people to request reinforcements.

Before reinforcements arrived, Xiang Bao and Wang Shunchen's troops were already close to reaching the mountaintop. The Qiang commanders and logistics personnel were so frightened that they fled in panic.

Wang Junwan, who had turned into a bloody mess, was carried down the mountain by his soldiers, and Xu Lai quickly ordered the army doctor to treat him.

The military doctor counted them afterward; there were 26 wounds of varying sizes all over his body.

Fortunately, he was protected by two layers of leather armor and silk armor, so most of his wounds were not too deep; otherwise, Wang Junwan would have bled to death by now.

Such a heroic deed must be widely publicized and reported to the imperial court.

After the Song army captured Mobang Mountain, they dispatched a detachment of Qiang troops to garrison it, while the main force moved to the north of the mountain peak and Panshi Fortress.

Standing atop the mountain peak, we were finally able to clearly see the enemy's situation.

On the northern plateau, there were Qiang tents everywhere, and further away, there were even women, children, cattle, and sheep. This must be a nearby Qiang tribe that had moved here with their families.

Gao Zunyu looked through the binoculars for a while, then said with a headache, "After attacking the mountain peaks, we still have to attack the plateau. The enemy has the high ground and more troops; a direct assault would likely result in heavy casualties."

The enemy on the plateau numbered not just one or two thousand, but ten or twenty thousand! And even more elderly, weak, women and children.

Xu Lai said, "Set up cannons on the mountainside and bombard the plateau. After creating chaos, break through from the chaos."

Xu Lai is not Wang Shao; he has firearms at his disposal.

Historically, when faced with the plateau, the generals were reluctant to attack again. Wang Shao defied their objections and launched a strong assault. At the most perilous moment, the enemy counterattacked and stormed his own camp. Wang Shao personally donned his armor and led the charge, ordering that anyone who retreated would be executed. Only then did he turn the tide and achieve a great victory.

The cannons, weighing eight or nine hundred pounds, were hoisted up the mountain little by little by laborers, pulled by ropes.

It wasn't until two days later that the artillery was finally set up halfway up the mountain.

During this period, the enemy launched several attacks, all of which were easily repelled by the Song army.

"Second brother, will the Song army launch a full-scale attack today?" Ba Zhanmo asked anxiously.

Standing on the edge of the plateau, Dong Gu looked at the Song army that had already been mobilized and shook his head, saying, "I don't know."

Bazhanmo whispered, "The soldiers who escaped from the mountain said that in addition to that large magical weapon, the Song army also had a small magical weapon that could be held in the hand. It was like thunder, and it would also emit smoke. It could kill people from a great distance."

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"They're terrified," Dong Gu scolded. "Don't mention this again. I asked the master to perform another ritual yesterday, invoking the gods to protect us. The Song army's magic weapons are useless now."

"boom!"

Just then, a loud bang was heard.

A cannonball fired from the opposite hillside landed about twenty paces to Dong Gu. It didn't hit anyone when it landed, but as it bounced, it broke the legs of seven Qiang soldiers.

The Qiang soldiers in that area were thrown into a panic, and the more timid ones turned and fled in terror.

Four more shells fell, three of which landed in enemy territory.

This is just a test firing.

But Gao Zunyu, who was observing through binoculars, excitedly issued the order: "Beat the drums! Beat the drums! The enemy's vanguard is in disarray!"

Xu Lai was both amused and exasperated.

It was just a test firing, yet it threw the enemy defending the plateau into disarray, and even caused small-scale routs.

The enemy general lacked experience in dealing with artillery and was unable to quell the fleeing troops in time, causing the scale of the rout to grow larger and larger.

After the Song army beat the drums, the messengers waved command flags continuously.

Upon receiving the order, the frontline commanders immediately launched a fierce attack after the second round of artillery bombardment.

With the Song army's attack, the enemy forces defending the edge of the plateau quickly turned into a complete rout of the vanguard.

Dong Gu was completely stunned; he had never fought a battle like this before. The battle had barely begun, and his side had already suffered a chaotic defeat without any apparent understanding of what was happening.

It wasn't just the artillery that caused the problem; the various Qiang tribes were also not united.

Each leader wanted to preserve their strength and was unwilling to fight a hard battle. These combined factors led to their immediate collapse upon encountering artillery fire.

"kill!"

The Song army and the surrendered Qiang cavalry took the opportunity to rush up the plateau from various slopes.

Yu Longke and Ba Zhanjiao, who had previously performed poorly, now led their cavalry in pursuit of the fleeing enemy, looking like gods descended from heaven. They carved a path through the routed troops, charging directly towards the rear of the enemy forces that were still in disarray.

As the fighting continued, the enemy army completely collapsed and fled.

The elderly, women, and children of the Qiang people, who lived further away, fled in a panic, crying and shouting, without even taking their livestock and food with them.

Dong Gu completely lost control of his troops. He couldn't even find the leaders of the various units, so he could only ride his warhorse and escape among the fleeing soldiers.

Bazhanmo was extremely anxious.

He had secretly passed intelligence to the Song army, thinking that either he could win the battle, or if he lost, he would lead his troops to surrender to the Song army. But now both plans have failed, and he can no longer control his troops; even the elderly, women, and children have deserted.

Would he, a commander without any troops, surrender?

Damn it, let's get out of here first.

He feared that if he surrendered now, he would be killed by the bloodthirsty Song soldiers.

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