Su He stood under the Jianmen Pass, looking at this most important pass in the world.
Had he not been fully prepared, he would have had three main battle plans and three alternative battle plans.
They wanted to conquer this great pass, but they didn't know how much it would cost.
Su He looked at the howling south wind of Jianmen Pass and kept frowning. The weather conditions are very bad now.
Qi Gangyi, the leader of the guard regiment, requested: "Commander Su, the soldiers of our Flying Tiger Regiment are ready to attack at any time.
Please Commander Su, please let the Flying Tigers attack. This unique attack method is absolutely unstoppable to the Ming army."
"We can't do it now. The wind direction here is wrong. We have to wait until the north wind blows before the Flying Tigers can move out.
The Flying Tigers only have one chance, and we must be 100% sure.
Once the Flying Tigers are dispatched, they will not be able to break through Jianmen Pass.
Then our casualties will be huge.
The winning rates of the other two main combat plans are not as high as those of the Flying Tigers..."
Su He asked Qi Gangyi to continue to be patient. The secret killer weapon of the Flying Tigers must be used at critical moments.
"Guard, let Wu Jie lead the Fourth Division to immediately prepare for an attack in accordance with the No. 2 combat plan, and ask the artillery brigade to assist in the attack.
Let's give it a try to see if combat plan No. 2 can succeed.
Tell Wu Jie to pay attention to my orders and be ready to retreat at any time."
The guard immediately left to inform Wu Jie, the commander of the Fourth Division, to act in accordance with the No. 2 combat plan.
Su He only notified four divisions to attack, instead of three divisions rushing forward at once.
It's just that the road here at Jianmen Pass is too narrow.
Jianmen Pass Tower is located on the mountain. To climb up Jianmen Pass, you can only walk up the stone steps that can be walked by two or three people.
The army can only send two or three people to line up to climb the mountain, and large troops cannot be used here at all.
Su He looked at Jianmen Pass with a telescope.
This is a Western telescope purchased from a businessman with a huge sum of money. There are only a dozen of them.
Suhe's Chinese army is by the river valley, far away from Jianmen Pass.
He saw through his telescope that the Fourth Division led by Wu Jie had begun to climb Jianmen Pass.
The soldiers of their fourth division all wore cotton armor and heavy armor made of water-powered forging hammers.
A regiment of heavy armored soldiers, this is the main force in the No. 2 battle plan to attack Jianmen Pass.
Heavy armor plus cotton armor can effectively withstand attacks from Ming army bows, arrows and matchlock guns.
Su He looked at Jianmen Pass in the telescope. It is well-deservedly known as the most majestic pass in the world.
Jianmen Pass is located at the break of Dajian Mountain, a narrow valley pass between Yingpanzui on the east peak and Jincheng Mountain cliff on the west peak.
The stone walls of the two cliffs were chopped like swords and axes, making it impossible for the soldiers to climb.
You can only attack Jianmen Pass through the stone steps.
The place where Jianmen Pass is located is more than 150 meters above ground and more than 500 meters long.
The top is more than 100 meters wide, and the bottom is more than 50 meters wide.
The Guan Tower of Jianmen Pass is built on the top.
The Jianmenguan city tower is 19.34 meters high, the base is 19.16 meters long and 13.6 meters wide.
The whole building is made of huge stones, which makes it difficult to collapse even with heavy artillery bombardment.
What's more, here at Jianmen Pass, heavy artillery cannot be transported at all, not even medium-sized artillery.
Li Fengming looked at the steep Jianmen Pass and sighed: "I read about it in history books.
When Zhuge Liang was appointed Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, he saw that there was a pavilion road of thirty miles between the Big and Small Sword Mountains.
I also saw that at the break of Dajian Mountain, the wall was high with thousands of blades, and the sky was open to the sky, so I built a stone pass here to act as a barrier, and called it Jiange, also known as Jiange Pass.
Later, Zhuge Liang left Qishan on his fifth trip, and Jiang Wei passed through this place during his eleventh northern expedition to the Central Plains.
Jianmen Pass is the throat of Shu and an important military town. It has become a battleground for military strategists in history.
After we take Jianmen Pass, there is a smooth road behind us. There are no more passes that can stop us from occupying the southwest.
I hope that the secret guard development in Jianmen Pass can be successful, causing chaos inside Jianmen Pass, and giving us the opportunity to attack Jianmen Pass."
Su Ying asked from the side: "Commander Su, Staff Officer Li.
Jianmen Pass is so majestic that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
I saw that climbing up the stone steps through the Soldier Gate consumes a lot of energy, and the large-scale military formation cannot be deployed.
The Ming army on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass could easily kill the soldiers with cannons or bows and arrows.
I looked at the map carefully.
You should be able to take a detour and go to the back of Jianmen Pass.
If we attack from the front and back, we will definitely take Jianmen Pass."
Li Fengming shook his head and explained: "I have considered this attack plan more than once.
But based on the information obtained by Su Changsheng, I gave up this tactic.
Attacking from both sides is very effective against an isolated city.
Jianmen Pass is not an isolated city. Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan, has long strengthened the guard force of Jianmen Pass in order to guard against us.
Governor Zhu Xieyuan and Sichuan Governor Zhang Lun attached great importance to Jianmen Pass.
The Ming army that had closed the Jianmen Gate was too numerous to be accommodated, and there were still 10,000 people left behind the Jianmen Gate.
Large troops cannot make a detour, and small groups of troops cannot make a detour.
It is simply impossible to take a detour and capture Jianmen Pass from the rear."
When Su Ying heard what Li Fengming said, he fell silent.
There is no way around it, so we can only attack Jianmen Pass head-on. This is really difficult.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of two cannons drew everyone's attention to Jianmen Pass.
The soldiers climbed the stone steps hard and just approached Jianmen Pass.
Then they saw two Hongyi cannons firing at them from the upper floor of Jianmen Pass.
The artillery shells hit very far from a high position and directly hit their advancing heavy armored team.
The heavy-armored team had poor flexibility and had no way to dodge the shells when they saw them flying towards them.
The huge iron ball rolled in the queue, but the soldiers didn't even have a place to dodge.
Directly hit by a cannonball, he plowed a line of blood, staining the stone steps red with blood.
Zhang Yuliang commanded the artillery brigade. When he saw the artillery fire at Jianmen Pass, he immediately counterattacked.
"Give me five times the amount of gunpowder, and don't worry about the life of the cannon."
110 medium-sized artillery, roaring far beyond its usual range.
But they were firing from the bottom of the mountain to the top, and the 110 medium-sized artillery was not shooting high enough.
The cannonball hit the lower part of the gate, and the quality of the gate was very good.
The shell didn't even leave a mark, it was bounced away.
Zhang Yuliang shook his head when he saw this situation.
With the artillery in his hand, there is no way to cause damage to Jianmen Pass.
He felt very frustrated now. The cannon was too heavy and could not be dragged up the steep steps.
The Hongyi cannons on the upper floors of Jianmen Pass can shoot far from the top, and the shells still have power when they hit them.
Their cannons attack upward from the middle of the hillside and need to overcome the gravity mentioned by Commander Su.
Originally the caliber of the cannon was smaller than the Hongyi cannon.
Even with a strong charge, there is no way to cause much damage to the Jianmen Pass building.
"Inform Commander Su that our artillery brigade is unable to support the battlefield."
Su He looked at this scene. Although he had expected it, he was still a little depressed.
"Su Changsheng's information indicates that there are four fixed Hongyi cannons on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass, and they fire shells alternately.
The position of the cannonball was very fixed, aiming at the stone steps leading up to Jianmen Pass.
With these four cannons guarding the gate, it would be too difficult to attack Jianmen Pass.
The internal responders we are developing include the artillery generals at Jianmenguan, and we hope they can succeed."
…
Shao Jiechun stood on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass and watched the thieves in yellow attacking Jianmen Pass.
Above his head, there is a plaque.
There are four big characters written on it: "天下雄关".
This is the most formidable pass in the world, a chasm that is difficult for thieves in yellow to overcome.
He made great achievements in annihilating She Chongming and An Bangyan.
This time, we can block the main force of the yellow-robed thieves outside Jianmen Pass and cooperate with Governor Zhu Xieyuan to annihilate the yellow-robed thieves.
Shao Jiechun has made great achievements and is very likely to succeed Governor Zhang Lun and become the next governor of Sichuan.
"Now we are fighting against the thieves in yellow, but we have achieved too little results. According to the traitor's instructions, we will release false signals to deceive the thieves in yellow.
Let the other red barbarian cannons be loaded with shotgun shells, and the archers should be ready.
Put the yellow-clothed thief in a suitable position and fire immediately to kill the yellow-clothed thief on a large scale."
"My lord, your plan is so wonderful. The thieves in yellow will definitely lose your troops and generals at Jianmen Pass." Master Liu Yi immediately flattered him.
"You did a great job, I will definitely ask for credit for you in the future." Shao Jiechun praised him.
His master Liu Yi carefully analyzed the style of the thief in yellow.
I think the thieves in yellow will definitely send traitors to cause trouble.
Liu Yi gave him an idea to capture all the relatives and friends of the thieves from Guangyuan City who had escaped to Hanzhong.
Let the officers guard more than a hundred households at the Jianmen Gate and kill the relatives and friends of the thieves one by one with swords.
They watched to see who would hesitate.
When this strategy was implemented, they actually captured two hesitant generals.
Following the clues, he killed the traitor who was bribed by the thief in yellow and obtained a lot of information.
The Hongyi cannon at Jianmen Pass stopped firing, and thick smoke was still burning on the tower of Jianmen Pass.
Fu Xiucheng, chief of staff of the Fourth Division, saw this situation.
He shouted loudly: "Everyone, follow me, we should have achieved victory."
…
Shao Jiechun is a group of yellow thieves wearing heavy armor.
They carried the ladder and came to the bottom of the Jianmen Pass building.
The thief in yellow has leveled the ladder truck and is preparing to raise the ladder.
"Fire the cannon and discover that thieves in yellow rush to the bottom of the Jianmenguan city wall. Immediately throw rolling logs to kill these rebel thieves."
Shao Jiechun saw that the time had come, and he immediately issued the order.
The red cannon on the Jianmen Pass tower fired a large number of cannonballs.
Shao Jiechun saw the dense shells hitting the thief in yellow like hailstones.
Even if a thief in yellow clothes wearing heavy armor is hit by a shotgun, he has no hope of surviving.
Like an old farmer cutting wheat, the thieves in yellow fell down in pieces, wailing continuously.
Shao Jiechun burst out laughing when he saw this scene.
"It's so happy, so happy.
Let these rebels see the defensive capabilities of the world's great gates."
…
"Ming Jin, withdraw your troops and ask Wu Jie and others to withdraw immediately.
It seems that our internal response has completely failed. This is Shao Jiechun's trick to deceive us.
The war cannot be fought like this, and it cannot be wasted in vain."
Su He immediately gave the order, and a huge gong sound sounded at the foot of the mountain.
Wu Jie heard the signal to withdraw his troops,
He looked at Chief of Staff Fu Xiucheng who was already covered in blood and still wanted to continue the attack.
"Old Wu, the heavy armor soldiers are all elites. I am really unwilling to lose more than half of these brothers."
"There is no need to discuss. We must withdraw. Without internal support, we cannot attack Jianmen Pass at all."
Wu Jie asked the guards to take Fu Xiucheng away.
The army retreated back out of the range of the cannon.
The gate of Jianmenguan Guanlou was opened, and part of the Ming army directly chased them out.
When Zhang Yuliang saw this opportunity, he directly asked the artillery to fire.
Cannonballs cannot threaten Jianmen Pass, but these Ming troops leaving the pass are very good targets.
More than thirty 110-meter medium-sized artillery roared, and a large number of shells directly hit the chasing Ming army.
The Ming army was shelled, killing and wounding some people, and they immediately retreated to Jianmen Pass.
The artillery on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass prevented the yellow-robed thieves from pursuing the Ming army leaving the city, and the Hongyi artillery fired several shots at the stone steps.
Wu Jie calculated the number of casualties among the soldiers.
He came directly to Su He's tent.
"Commander Su, I was at fault. It was my improper command that caused 867 brothers to stay at Jianmen Pass forever."
After Wu Jie finished speaking, he knelt down to apologize.
"Stand up straight. If you can close the sword gate by kneeling down, then you can kneel down.
This battle is not your fault. Anyone who fights it will not achieve good results.
We followed the internal response plan, but unexpectedly the internal response failed.
In terrain like Jianmen Pass, the power of our weapons cannot be fully exerted.
Now the Jianmenguan Ming army has the advantage in weapons.
Don’t forget how we defeated the Ming Dynasty’s 100,000-strong army at the Weihe River Defense Line with superior weapons.
In this situation, it’s not okay to be reckless.”
Qi Gangyi stood up again and begged: "Commander Su.
Let's wait for a few days to wait for the wind direction.
When our Flying Tigers go into battle, I will definitely be able to capture Jianmen Pass."
Su He listened to the strong south wind howling outside.
"No, we can't have a truce now. We need to destroy the crossbows and other long-range weapons of the Jianmen Pass defenders.
Even if they cannot be destroyed, the location of these weapons must be determined.
Try to increase the Flying Tigers’ winning rate as much as possible.”
When many generals heard the term Flying Tigers, they had puzzled expressions on their faces.
They had never heard of this unit called the Flying Tigers and had no idea what this unit could do.
They actually had the confidence to attack Jianmen Pass directly.
Su He looked at the many generals and ordered: "We cannot use traditional siege methods, as this will cause too many casualties.
In other cities, if we pay some casualties, we may be able to capture this city.
But Jianmen Pass is different. No matter how heavy the casualties we pay, we can't capture Jianmen Pass.
Chief of Staff Li Fengming, adopt the No. 3 combat plan."
After Li Fengming heard Su He's order, he immediately mobilized the Second Division to replace the Fourth Division as the main attacking force.
For this attack on Jianmen Pass, Su He selected the three combat plans with the highest success rate as the main plans.
The number one combat plan is the Flying Tigers.
Operation Plan No. 2 was an internal agent lurking in Jianmen Pass. After they launched the attack, they tried to destroy Jianmen Pass from the inside, mainly destroying the Hongyi cannon.
There was no trace of chaos at Jianmen Pass, which proved that the spy had been caught, or that he had no chance to cause trouble.
Battle Plan No. 2 was a complete failure.
The purpose of Operation Plan No. 3 is not to capture Jianmen Pass.
Instead, they consumed the long-range weapons in Jianmen Pass to detect the firepower points of the Ming army and cooperated with the No. 1 combat plan.
The No. 2 combat plan creates better opportunities for the No. 1 combat plan.
Li Fengming asked Wu Jie to take the troops to rest.
He went to the Second Division to discuss the No. 3 battle plan with Su Zhuang.
Su Zhuang quickly sent troops to carry fifty trebuchets and walked to the stone steps.
This trebuchet is specially customized for Jianmen Pass.
The trebuchet is overall slender, making it very convenient to transport on the stone steps of Jianmenguan.
A squad of soldiers carried a trebuchet and walked towards Jianmen Pass.
Zhang Yuliang looked at this situation and sighed constantly.
If the cannon was not too heavy, it could not be transported to the bottom of the Jianmen Pass Tower.
If their artillery brigade is effective, how can they let the trebuchets show off their power?
This ancient engineering equipment should have been eliminated long ago.
Su Zhuang looked at the tall and mighty Jianmen Pass, and he solemnly explained to Tao Guifan, commander of the Second Brigade of the Second Division:
"Commander Tao, don't be impatient, and don't expect the trebuchet to capture Jianmen Pass.
Your most important task is to protect the safety of the soldiers as much as possible.
The artillery at Jianmenguan concentrated fire on the trebuchets on a large scale, and the trebuchets were abandoned directly.
We have many craftsmen with the army, and craftsmen can build several of these simple trebuchets in a day.
While ensuring the safety of the soldiers, try to hit as many explosive shells as possible on the upper floors of Jianmen Pass to kill and injure the Ming troops at Jianmen Pass."
"Teacher, I understand and I will complete the mission."
After Tao Guifan finished speaking, he adjusted his helmet and led the troops directly up the stone steps.
…
Shao Jiechun saw the thieves in yellow attacking again, also carrying some wooden equipment.
He was too far away to see what these devices were?
"Artillerymen, aim at them and hit them hard."
Shao Jiechun gave the order, and the red cannon on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass roared again.
He smiled very happily as he watched the cannonball directly smash the first engineering equipment.
"With these engineering equipment, they want to capture our Jianmen Pass. The thieves in yellow have such a beautiful idea.
Keep firing the cannon and smash them all to pieces."
…
Tao Guifan saw the red cannon at Jianmenguan Tower firing again.
There was no need to aim the cannonballs, they hit directly on the stone steps they were walking on.
The rolling cannonballs are so powerful that soldiers will be killed if they touch them.
He immediately shouted loudly: "Everyone, please avoid and ignore the trebuchet.
Put the trebuchet on the road first to ensure your own safety."
The soldiers put down their trebuchets and watched the direction in which the shells were coming.
They don't wear armor, their bodies are very flexible, and they can avoid shell attacks in most cases.
This is also the current Hongyi cannon, and its accuracy is too poor.
A squad of soldiers at the front encountered concentrated fire from two Hongyi cannons and had no way to avoid them.
The two cannonballs hit the trebuchet one after the other, directly knocking the wooden trebuchet into pieces.
Many of the pieces of wood that were shot away penetrated the bodies of the surrounding soldiers.
For the soldiers in this class, they were hit by high-speed moving wood and had no hope of surviving.
"Everyone, rush to me. The Jianmenguan cannon needs cooling time. Let's rush over and fight back hard."
Tao Guifan commanded the soldiers, carrying the trebuchet, and rushed towards the Jianmen Pass Tower.
He wanted to take advantage of the cooling time of the Hongyi cannon and rush to the bottom of the Jianmen Pass building.
Once you rush over, turn off the Hongyi cannon at a fixed position on the building and you won't be able to hit them.
The soldiers lined up in a dense formation and kept trying to charge, but they couldn't.
As soon as they show their heads, they will be greeted by artillery shells.
Tao Guifan was injured by sawdust flying in all directions.
The soldiers suffered heavy casualties, but no one was afraid and continued to charge forward with their trebuchets.
Zhu Shi Qutian, a member of the Second Regiment of the Second Division, Second Brigade, stopped the soldiers from his regiment who wanted to rush over.
"Everyone, hold on, don't embarrass our second regiment.
But you can't be so reckless. You have to pay attention to skills when doing things.
Now everyone listens to my command.
I have studied and understood the frequency of Jianmenguan cannon firing.
Follow my instructions, and everyone will be able to safely pass through the Hongyi artillery blockade."
Qu Tian has been observing the Hongyi cannon on the tower of Jianmen Pass.
Hongyi cannon can only hit areas fixed by stone steps.
After each cannon is fired, it needs to cool down.
"Next time it's time for the cannon to fire. When you're halfway through, throw down the trebuchet and run back immediately."
Qu Tian ordered.
The soldiers followed Qu Tian's instructions and ran forward quickly carrying the trebuchet.
Halfway through, they threw the trebuchet directly on the stone steps.
He immediately turned around and ran back.
They had just turned around and not far away when the Hongyi cannon on the tower of Jianmen Pass roared again.
One soldier looked back and saw that the trebuchet behind him had been smashed to pieces by the iron ball.
"Yes, just do this. The next group will carry the trebuchet and run quickly. Don't stop and sprint over with all your strength."
The soldiers obeyed Qu Tian's order. They carried the trebuchet and charged with all their might.
Until they rushed to not far from the Jianmen Pass Building, the cannons that had closed the Jianmen Gate did not fire again.
They stood outside the range of Jianmenguan cannon shot and Ming army bows and arrows.
Soldiers operate trebuchets and prepare to fight back against the Ming army.
The Hongyi cannon upstairs at Jianmen Pass fires every once in a while.
But with Qu Tian's command, the soldiers' casualties were greatly reduced.
Even the artillery on the tower of Jianmen Pass changes the firing frequency of the Hongyi cannon.
Qutian can also make corresponding adjustments according to the situation.
More and more trebuchets were transported under the Jianmenguan city tower.
Su He was by the river valley, watching the battlefield with a telescope.
"Who is this general? Qian Mingyi writes down his name. I will give him a reward after the war."
Su He can only remember the high-level generals. There are too many middle-level generals and their mobility is very high.
He didn't remember everyone.
…
When Shao Jiechun saw the thieves in yellow, he directly placed these engineering equipment under the tower of Jianmen Pass.
Only now did he see clearly that these things were trebuchets.
"What's going on with the artillery? Why can't we just kill the yellow-clad thieves in front of us?
Especially turn off the trebuchet downstairs and destroy these things immediately."
His master, Liu Yi, immediately explained: "Sir, please calm down. After the artillery fires, it needs a certain amount of time to cool down, and it also takes time to reload.
The thieves in yellow are very capable and can directly tell when we reload the cannon.
The thieves in yellow also have control over our shotgun range and bow and arrow range.
Their trebuchets were placed out of range.
Neither shotgun nor bow and arrow can cause damage to the trebuchet.
I will arrange for the artillery to replace the less powerful Hongyi cannon with solid cannonballs.
As long as we wait a moment, the trebuchets of the thieves in yellow will be smashed into pieces by us.
Sir, don’t worry, we can’t attack Jianmen Pass with just these trebuchets.”
…
The soldiers carried the trebuchet to the bottom of Jianmen Pass, and they immediately operated the trebuchet to attack the Jianmen Pass Tower.
They all know that their trebuchets only have a short attack time.
The soldier turned the winch on the trebuchet, and the winch was connected to the gear, which drove the rope to pull the cannon shaft and press it backward.
The gun shaft is pressed backward, compressing the spring steel on the gun mount.
This kind of trebuchet does not use heavy objects to throw objects.
It uses the powerful force generated by spring steel to drive the gun shaft to project objects.
The soldier picked up a large exploding bomb half a meter in diameter.
There is a wooden stopper on top of this blooming bullet, and a match rope is attached to the wooden stopper.
The soldier put the explosive shell into the spoon on the cannon shaft and lit the match of the explosive shell.
"put."
The soldier directly opened the switch connecting the rope on the gun shaft.
The gun shaft lost the traction of the rope, and it immediately flew upwards driven by the spring steel.
He directly threw the flower bomb high and landed on the upper floor of Jianmen Pass.
With a loud bang, a Hongyi cannon was blown down from the upper floor of Jianmen Pass.
Ten trebuchets threw out explosive shells one after another.
The Ming soldiers upstairs immediately closed the sword gate and cried for their fathers and mothers.
…
Shao Jiechun heard a huge roar and saw the scattered limbs flying around him.
"Cannon, give me an immediate counterattack and blow up the trebuchet of the thieves in yellow."
Shao Jiechun was a little nervous, but he saw that the wall of Jianmen Pass Tower was not moving at all.
He immediately felt relieved, as long as the city wall was not destroyed, everything would be fine at Jianmen Pass.
Under Shao Jiechun's stern urging, the cannon upstairs at Jianmen Pass roared again.
He watched as the trebuchet that the thieves in yellow had worked so hard to transport was smashed into pieces by the cannon.
They also suffered heavy losses. Two of the four huge Hongyi cannons at Jianmen Pass were destroyed.
The artillerymen guarding the tower also killed many people.
But if you completely defend Jianmen Pass, it is worth the death of so many people.
…
Su He saw that the sky had darkened and did not let the Second Division continue the attack.
Take a rest overnight and sum up your experience.
It was daybreak, and Su Zhuang commanded his men to carry the trebuchet and continue the attack.
This fierce battle lasted for three days.
The stone steps in front of Jianmen Pass and the upper floors of Jianmen Pass were stained red with blood.
Jianmen Pass became a flesh and blood mill, devouring the lives of soldiers from both armies.
At noon, Su He saw that the howling south wind had stopped and turned into a north wind.
He smiled, and the No. 1 combat plan could be implemented.