On the rugged mountain road, a group of knights rode forward. Their hoods and cloaks were covered with a thick layer of white frost, which showed that they had traveled a long way.
A few miles away, there was a garrison built against the mountain wall. When they heard the faint sound of horse hooves coming from the open valley, the expressions of the guards in the castle suddenly became serious. They each wore robes and armor and distributed weapons and staffs. on alert.
Soon the group of knights arrived in front of the fort. One of them went straight to the closed door of the fort, raised his head and shouted upward: "Xi'an Governor Yang is here for inspection, why don't you open the door to greet us!"
As he spoke, he took off another command talisman from his waist and threw it into a basket under the tower. The defenders put the basket up to the top of the city. After inspecting it carefully, they hurriedly gave orders to open the city gate. The garrison leader led several soldiers. The commander hurriedly went out to greet Yang Zhong, crossing his hands in greeting and saying: "Your Majesty is actually coming in person. It's really rude for someone of such low rank to welcome you from afar..."
Yang Zhong just waved his hand and signaled everyone to enter the fort temporarily, not paying much attention to these customs. After entering the fort, he frowned and asked questions before he could take off his hood and robe that had already been soaked by the frost. Said: "How is the situation in the black salt pond?"
Many days ago, a large number of wandering soldiers appeared in Xi'an Prefecture. These people's whereabouts were unpredictable and their purpose of coming was unknown, which naturally aroused the high vigilance of the people in the area.
Due to the salt ponds in the territory, there are many bandits in Xi'an Prefecture every autumn and winter. Yang Zhong, the governor, also made many arrangements to deal with this situation. He personally led troops to sit in the largest salt pond in Wuyuan and dispatched scouts to patrol. Everywhere, we strive to ensure smooth communication within the country so that no matter where a situation arises, we can be informed of and respond to it as soon as possible.
After hearing Yang Zhong's question, the garrison leader led him to a lookout in the castle, pointed to the northeast of the lookout and said: "There is the Black Rock Garrison ten miles away. The warning beacon smoke suddenly lit up the morning before yesterday. Beizhi immediately led his troops to investigate and rush for reinforcements, but was blocked by the bandits ambushing the mountain road. There were at least a thousand thieves seen, and Beizhong's troops only had two hundred. They were really outnumbered, and feared that the fortress would be lost, so they could only hold off for the time being. Lead the troops to retreat and immediately send a message to Wuyuan..."
"So, the Black Rock Garrison was lost and the Black Salt Pond was also occupied by the enemy?"
The garrison leader nodded solemnly: "I have been asking Fenghuo for the past two days, but there has been no response. Black Rock Garrison has indeed been lost. After the thieves occupy this garrison, they can hold on to the east." The passage to the black salt pond can transport the salt stored in the black salt pond outwards. The only thing that can be fortunate is that there are not many oxen and carriages there, but if the thieves themselves have one, then..."
When Yang Zhong heard this, he frowned tightly. He knew that his old lord Duguxin had spent a lot of effort on his transfer, so he didn't want such a big mistake to happen when he took office, so he asked in a deep voice. : "Is there any way to recapture Black Rock Garrison as soon as possible?"
"Yes, there is, but it's really too dangerous!"
After hearing the words, the garrison leader hesitated for a moment and then answered hesitantly.
"It's good to have it. Whether it's dangerous or not will be discussed later. Let's fix some diet first to satisfy our hunger."
Yang Zhong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that there was still a way, and then gave instructions, ordering the accompanying soldiers to take off their frost-soaked robes and go into the fort to stay warm, eat and rest.
In the evening, Yang Zhong, who was full of energy after eating and drinking, led by the garrison leader, bypassed the east mountain road that was already controlled by the bandits, and reached the bottom of a high and steep cliff along the mountainside.
"The black rock garrison is suspended halfway up the mountain. The terrain is steep. In addition to frontal assault, you can also sneak along the mountain wall. However, this road is too dangerous. It was originally a dangerous road explored by eagle hunters in the old days. However, after passing through this
The casualties were too heavy and they were abandoned..."
The garrison leader just stood at the bottom of the cliff, feeling the mountain wind blowing on his face. He couldn't help but become nervous. After much hesitation, he finally had the courage to say: "Although this mountain road can lead directly to the back of the Black Rock Fortress, it is
It is not suitable for large groups of people to pass by. If there are only a few people, even if they are lucky enough to survive and infiltrate, I am afraid it will be difficult to recapture the fort from the rebels. It is really too risky!"
Yang Zhong ignored the garrison leader's advice and only pointed to a slightly thin subordinate among his subordinates. The soldier left the team and walked to the cliff to look around, and then climbed up on his hands and knees.
When you go up, your movements are vigorous and flexible, as if you were walking on flat ground.
When the garrison commander saw this scene, his eyes widened in surprise. Before he could react, the thin sergeant had already climbed farther and farther away and disappeared behind the cliff rocks.
Yang Zhong was not idle, and asked the garrison leader in detail about the internal layout and defense of Black Rock Garrison, and kept these information in his heart.
It was getting late, and more than half an hour had passed quickly. Another rustling sound was heard diagonally above the cliff. Not long after, the sergeant left and returned, leaping down from the mountain wall with a light body.
, and then said to Yang Zhong: "Master, you can do it, but it's just not easy to carry heavy equipment."
After hearing the words, Yang Zhong nodded, summoned a sergeant who had accompanied him here, and ordered the garrison leader together: "Inform the people behind you to speed up the march. They must get here before night. After arriving, go to the garrison to rest for a while.
As soon as I sent out the beacon signal, I rushed towards the mountain road and defeated these thieves in one fell swoop!"
After hearing this, the sergeant clasped his fists and accepted the promise, while the garrison leader widened his eyes and exclaimed: "Could it be that the commander wants to personally..."
Yang Zhong did not explain too much, but selected more than thirty people among the attachés. He carefully checked and inventoried his belongings several times. Some items that were difficult to carry were temporarily brought back to the garrison by the soldiers who were not participating in the operation.
Yang Zhongze and others set up a simple tent under the mountain wall and continued to rest.
The sky quickly became dark, but the vision was not completely dim. After the eyes adapted to the dim night, the light refracted by the snow on the surrounding mountains made it possible to see clearly again.
"Set off!"
Yang Zhong raised his head and looked at the rising and falling of the stars in the sky. When the time reached the moment he expected, he stood up and gave the order.
All the sergeants stood up one after another, stretched out their arms and kicked their legs for a while. The thin sergeant set off in the afternoon, and the others followed suit, climbing horizontally along the few relay points on the mountain wall.
Due to the previous exploration, the group's progress was smooth. However, the mountain was too wide and thick, which made the journey seem far away. The cold wind in the mountain blew on the back, sometimes mixed with some tiny frost fragments, like a handful of ice.
The file was constantly rubbing against the person's shoulders, neck and back.
"Keep on holding on, we're already halfway there!"
The sergeant who was leading the way spoke to encourage everyone, but his tone unconsciously trembled. When he passed a fairly wide stone platform, he finally freed his hand and took out a leather bag and brought it to his mouth.
It contained spirits that had been warmed before leaving.
The sergeant took a swig of warm wine, then passed the wine bag to the rear, and continued to climb forward with the help of this sip of wine. Everyone on the way behind also followed the same example, and when the last person was passed, the huge wine bag was empty.
When it collapsed, not a drop was left, and the sergeants walking in front had already descended the cliff one after another and stepped onto the ground.
The Black Salt Pond is located among mountains surrounded by many coal veins. Some coal mines are simply exposed, forming black strips between the mountains. This is why the Salt Pond here is named.
Heiyan garrison is located in the southwest of Yanchi, hanging on the middle of the mountain, overlooking the entire Yanchi valley. There is a stone beam connecting it to the peak behind. The terrain is very important.
Yang Zhong and others bypassed the entire mountain ridge and arrived directly at the rear of the fort. They were only a dozen feet away from the fort. The light of fireworks and the movement of figures in the fort were clearly visible.
Probably because they were confident about the terrain of the fort, and because they had just captured the fort and were not yet familiar with the layout, the thieves did not arrange patrol personnel in the area of the fort, so Yang Zhong and others touched the fort wall all the way.
Next, I am still completely unaware of this.
At the end, the critical moment became more and more important. Yang Zhong and others quietly watched under the wall for a while, chose a slightly lower position, and directly climbed up the more than ten feet high wall by stacking people on top of each other.
Inside the wall is a place where charcoal and sundries are stored. Yang Zhong, who was the first to climb over the wall, felt something was wrong as soon as he landed. He quickly looked around in the dim light coming from elsewhere, but found nothing obvious.
When he asked his subordinates to speed up their actions, warning signs suddenly arose in their hearts. They looked towards the front left corner and saw a soldier under the shadow standing with his legs crossed, holding his crotch with one hand, looking at him in stunned silence.
.
This situation surprised both parties involved. Yang Zhong subconsciously took a small step back. Soon he reacted and swung his arms like hooks to grab the Hu Soldier's throat. The Hu Soldier was finally frightened.
, a shrill cry came from his mouth: "An enemy has sneaked in..."
The shouting stopped suddenly, and Yang Zhong scratched the Hu soldier's throat to pieces with one blow, causing him to fall down softly. However, his cry before his death also alerted the other Hu soldiers.
"who?"
Several Hu soldiers nearby rushed over in large strides. As they ran, they drew their knives in their hands and slashed directly at Yang Zhong.
Although Yang Zhong was using his bare hands, he was not afraid of the steel knife that was struck directly from his head. He dodged to avoid the oncoming knife and raised his fist to hit the Hu soldier's shoulder. He only heard a few muffled clicks, and the Hu soldier was struck by the sword.
Half of the soldier's body went limp, and his body was thrown into the air, knocking his comrade more than ten feet away.
The fallen sword of the Hu soldier was taken into Yang Zhong's hand, and he immediately became more powerful. In the flash of sword light, several Hu soldiers who came after hearing the news lay down on the spot.
"Move faster!"
After killing all the enemies in front of him, Yang Zhong shouted to the wall behind him, then he held a knife in one hand and a spear in the other hand, strode forward for more than ten feet, and went straight to kill the people who were coming here.
of thieves.
The sergeants outside the wall heard the sound of fighting coming from inside, and they all sped up their movements to climb over the wall. When they drew their swords and rushed towards the fighting place, the area Yang Zhong was passing through had already killed and injured dozens of soldiers.
The Hu soldiers had never seen such a powerful and ferocious enemy, killing people as if they were cutting grass. They were frightened for a while, and they turned around and ran to the rear to escape for their lives.
More and more sergeants climbed over the wall and followed Yang Zhong in pursuit of the thieves. It was now mid-night, and there were not many thieves on night watch. There were about thirty of them scattered here.
Yang Zhong and others attacked and killed them all, and soon all of them were dead or injured.
But the roar of the fighting also alerted all the thief soldiers in the fort. The thief soldiers who were originally sleeping in the barracks put on their clothes and went out, but in addition to the shining blades, what greeted them was
Companions running around in panic.
The scale of the fort was not too large, with only a hundred or so guardsmen. After the rebels captured it, they arranged for six to seven hundred people, including wounded soldiers, to guard the fort. As the entire fort fell into chaos,
, panicked thieves can be seen everywhere.
Yang Zhong and more than 30 people pursued him like wolves and tigers. Even though some thieves hurriedly organized a resistance formation, they were already beaten by the panicked crowd before they could fight the intruders.
In order to survive, some soldiers even rushed up to the top of the city and jumped down in a panic.
The chaos lasted for half an hour before it gradually subsided. The pawns in the fortress had either been hacked to death, or were wailing on the ground, and some simply knelt on the ground to surrender and beg for mercy. Few of them escaped anymore.
Resistant.
After scattering to create a commotion, the sergeants who were chasing the thieves gathered together again. They were all covered in blood and couldn't tell whether they were their own or the enemy's. They first drove the remaining pawns in the fortress into their barracks and locked them up.
, then the fortress was thoroughly searched, and several garrison soldiers who had been captured and detained by the rebels were discovered.
The bandit army also spent a great price to capture this fortress. There were many casualties. There were more than 200 wounded soldiers adopted in the fortress alone. These were wounded soldiers who were still worthy of treatment. Others were more seriously injured.
Then just give up.
The more than 120 defenders of Black Rock garrison held on until the last moment, killing many times the enemy, but they were helplessly outnumbered. After the garrison was breached, most of the defenders had died in battle, and the rest were also massacred by the bandits.
Only a few people were left to torture for information. The corpses of the defenders were still piled in a corner inside the wall, which was horrifying and sad to see.
Ci Bu took charge of the troops, but Yang Zhong did not have any emotional disturbance because of this. He just ordered in a deep voice: "Kill all the thieves in the fort, regardless of whether they are injured or not! Light the beacon fire and give the order to attack. After dawn, let the people in this valley
No more traces of thieves!”
The blazing beacon smoke rose into the sky and spread very far under the night. When the men and horses in the western garrison who had been resting and waiting saw this scene, they immediately rushed out in full force to kill the enemy who had lost their way.
The thieves in the stronghold.
In the camp next to the black salt pool, most of the thieves and soldiers were still sleeping, imagining that the looted salt could be exchanged for all kinds of wine, meat and goods. In their sleep, they heard the sound of drums and trumpets, and they had not yet had time to dress up.
, the enemy's swords and guns have been slashed down!
Thank you to the alliance leader for your love and kindness. I was embarrassed. I saw an additional alliance leader when I was about to post an update. Thank you very much... I have to arrange the update after the new year. I have been in poor spirits since the sun passed and my brain has been used for a long time.
I have dizziness, chest tightness, and insomnia. I have to fight against laziness every day. It’s the New Year, and there are a lot of favors. In short, there are no arrears...