The Baishi River runs back through the north and south wings of Qujing Bazi from east to west. The river flows less than two miles away from Qujing City, like a wide moat, protecting the city behind it.
Dalima's army of more than 100,000 troops deployed along the river bank between Qujing City and the Baishi River, determined to use the Baishi River as a barrier to prevent the Ming army from crossing the river.
To this end, he also used these two months to dig trenches stretching for more than ten miles along the river, and built archery towers every hundred steps, as well as deer, firewood, and horses.
But Dalima still couldn't rest assured. The successive losses of Puding Fort, Pu'an Village, Luoshan City, and especially Shengjing Pass had made him realize that the Ming Army was now powerful and the Yuan Army was powerful. The gap between the two sides was too great.
Already...
The day before yesterday, the scouts came to report that the Ming Dynasty army had finally entered the pass, and the troops were pointing directly at Qujing, so he began to suffer from insomnia.
It was only the fifth day of the night, so he got up early and began to inspect the defense line along the river.
In fact, the main reason was to wake up early. There was heavy fog today, and he was very worried that the Ming army would use the cover of the fog to do some tricks. Therefore, he had to get the troops into combat status in advance.
"The messenger has already informed us, there is no need for Pingzhang to come in person." Erdun, who was in charge of the defense line, hurried out of the camp to greet him.
"I don't worry." Dalima sighed. It has only been a few months and he has become much older: "We only have this river left now. If the Baishi River is also lost, Kunming will be in danger."
"Don't worry, Pingzhang." Erdun quickly comforted him and said, "We not only have the Baishi River, but also these more than 100,000 troops. We will definitely be able to prevent the Ming army from crossing the river."
"The Ming army opposite also has one hundred thousand..." After Dalima finished speaking, the two of them fell into silence. They both knew that one hundred thousand and one hundred thousand were completely different concepts.
A hundred thousand Ming army is enough to destroy a country, but a hundred thousand Yuan army is nothing...
"No matter how strong they are, they will be restrained at every turn when crossing the river. If we attack them halfway across the river, why worry about losing?" Erdun said in a deep voice.
"Yeah." Darima also realized that this was not the time to say depressing words, but to focus on motivation, so he raised his voice and said to the generals gathered in front of him:
"One hundred and thirty years ago, the founder Xue Chan Khan personally led an army from Shaanxi to Sichuan, marching thousands of miles straight. Along the way, he appeased the Tibetan leaders and lamas. With the help of their power, he made far-reaching and devious routes, won by surprise, and captured the country of Dali! For
Future generations have built this paradise."
"Now, it's our turn to defend our homeland!" Dalima said emotionally: "I think back to those days, how majestic and unstoppable our ancestors were. Han people and barbarians were nothing but native chickens in front of them.
Wagou! We must not embarrass our ancestors and let the Han people recall the horror of being dominated by Genghis Khan!"
"Ouch!" The Mongolian generals were so excited that they drew their swords and swore loudly that they would never let the Ming army cross the line of defense.
But the soldiers not far away seemed to have nothing to do with them, as if they were watching the fun.
This is normal, because there are only a small number of Mongols in the Yuan army. Especially the ordinary soldiers, most of whom are recruited from the local indigenous people, and some are mercenaries who are paid to fight. I don't understand what they are saying.
, let alone empathize with them.
However, Dalima also had a way of motivating them. They saw civilian husbands driving heavy ox carts, one after another, slowly driving into the camp.
Dalima waved, and the soldiers opened all the boxes on the car, revealing boxes full of copper coins.
Dalima casually grabbed two bunches of money, raised them high, and announced loudly: "If you defeat the Ming army once, all the soldiers will be rewarded with the same amount of money! If you defeat the Ming army several times, you will be rewarded with several strings of money. You will be rewarded on the same day and will never be in arrears!"
"Ouch!" After understanding Pingzhang's meaning, the soldiers finally became excited.
Dalima nodded with satisfaction and threw the copper coins in his hands to the soldiers. Seeing their futile attempts to grab them, he sighed secretly: "Sure enough, there must be brave men under a heavy reward. Fortunately, I still have the ability to give a heavy reward."
...'
In this way, he cheered and scattered coins along the way to boost the morale of the officers and soldiers.
After a long time, my eyes suddenly became clearer and the whole world became brighter.
"The fog has cleared..." Dalima realized that it was daytime now.
Before he finished speaking, the soldiers on the archery tower were heard exclaiming in surprise.
"Ming Army, Ming Army is here..."
Darima quickly climbed up to an arrow tower nearby and looked across the river. Then he saw a scene he would never forget - a huge army appeared on the other side of the river!
The sharp swords and guns, the bright armor, and the numerous battle flags are shining dazzlingly under the rising sun, making people dare not look at them.
At this time, the Ming army was really like the rising red sun, gushing out and unstoppable. They just appeared quietly on the other side, which put great pressure on the Yuan army.
The morale that Dalima had managed to build up suddenly disappeared. Especially the indigenous soldiers and mercenaries, who all looked frightened. I wonder how so many Ming troops suddenly appeared?
"Don't they know that the Ming army has arrived?" Dalima looked at Erdun displeased.
"The general is worried that revealing the enemy's situation too early will cause unnecessary panic..." Erdun said sarcastically.
"Speak humanly!" Dalima interrupted him impatiently.
"To put it bluntly, I am afraid that there will be too many deserters." Erdun hurriedly explained: "After the fall of Shengjing Pass, those defeated soldiers who escaped back greatly exaggerated the combat effectiveness of the Ming army for the sake of their own face, and said that they were all incompetent.
, it can turn a river upside down. It frightened many local soldiers and Burmese soldiers and turned them into deserters."
"If I tell them that the Ming army has already reached them, I don't know how much more they will have to run in one night." Erdun was also full of bitterness:
"It's hard to lead a team when the hearts of the people are scattered, Pingzhang. We can only maintain it like this with deception."
"But it's not a big problem. Although we didn't say that the army is coming, our defense has never been slack. We will definitely let the Ming army get a bloody blow." Erden hurriedly patted his chest and assured.
Dalima was immune to such nonsense. He just stared at the Ming army on the other side and said, "Their next step should be to chop down bamboo and wood, and prepare to build a raft to cross the river, right?"
"Yes." Erdun nodded and said: "We have cut down all the trees on the riverside. They have to go to Chongtou Naozi, ten miles away, to cut down the trees, and they have to prepare for several days..."
However, his voice became quieter and quieter, until finally it was almost undetectable.
Because he saw that the Ming army unloaded bundles of thick bamboos from the carriage like magic and had already begun to build rafts...
It is common sense that the defenders would cut down all the trees along the river to cause trouble for the enemy.
The Ming army stayed at Shengjingguan for more than two months. They were so well prepared. How could they not have thought of this? They had prepared the materials for making rafts in advance and dragged them to the Baishi River by horse-drawn carriages.
How could it be possible to cut down trees on site? If we couldn't find suitable wood to make rafts, would we still have to withdraw our troops?
