The north wind was howling in the heavy snow, and the world was completely blank. Songshan and the nearby Songshan Fort looked like two hunched old men in meditation in the heavy snow.
In the field, more than ten horses were walking slowly. Chang Yu curled his neck and looked around. A few miles to the west were the ruins of Xingshan Fort, and to the east there was a village a few miles away.
The area within tens of miles of Songshan and Tashan Fort is completely wilderness. There were originally more than ten villages, but after the war three years ago, all ten households were empty. Now only three or four small villages are left to survive.
After the Songjin War, this area came under the jurisdiction of the Qing court. Under the policy of appeasing the people, they were exempted from Qing army attacks. The Han villagers living here were able to live as usual, and they were even calmer than in previous years.
But these peaces are superficial and short-lived.
Since Zu Dashou rebuilt Tashan Fort last year, and then the Qing army rebuilt Songshan, although the two armies harassed each other, they have reached a certain tacit understanding, that is, not to harm the people within the territory.
Therefore, during this period, although the people within the jurisdiction were not living and working in peace and contentment, they were relatively peaceful on the surface, but of course they were also worried in their hearts.
It's not that they don't want to escape, but they have nowhere to escape! Chang Yu looked at the village in the distance and sighed in his heart.
"Sir, there seems to be someone over there in the village," Kuang Ren frowned and said softly. He was a sharp archer and his eyesight was far better than ordinary people. Even in this windy and snowy day, he could see clearly a hundred steps away.
Chang Yu and others heard the sound and looked in the direction of the village, but the wind and snow were so heavy that they couldn't see anything clearly.
"It's impossible for the people to come out in this stormy and snowy day. Could it be a Tatar spy?" Li Muxian raised his eyebrows, and then said: "It could also be one of ours."
"Go and have a look," Chang Yu said casually, turning his horse's head and heading towards the village. Kuang Ren was worried that something was wrong, so he waved his hand and two of his men rode past Chang Yu and ran ahead.
Outside the village is a small forest, where two hunched old men are collecting firewood. Yes, they are collecting firewood on a snowy day.
Chang Yu and his party stared blankly at the old couple a few meters away, their movements slow and laborious.
"You are..." The old couple finally found someone next to them. They were startled and saw clearly that they were cavalry. Their faces were full of fear. The old man stumbled and fell into the snow. The old woman rushed to help him, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help him.
Can't pull it up.
Chang Yu got off his horse and walked over to help the old man up: "Don't be surprised, we are the Ming army."
When the old man heard this, he was horrified and said, "Oh, it turns out he is the military master of the Ming Dynasty."
Chang Yu glanced at the bundle of firewood next to him and couldn't help but said: "It's so snowy to go out to pick up firewood."
"Hey, I don't know how long it will take for this snow to stop. It will be rare to see clear skies in the next few months. I need to prepare more for the winter." The old man sighed and said. Chang Yu nodded slightly: "Don't you have any children at home?"
"Yes." The old man bent down to tie up the pile of firewood: "My son died in the army, and my daughter also died in the war a few years ago." He raised his head and glanced at Chang Yu: "I am also a soldier of the Ming Dynasty."
.
It wasn't until the staggering backs of the two old men gradually disappeared into the wind and snow that Chang Yu regained consciousness, looked up at the gray sky, and turned to ask Li Muchian: "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, but what about his own rise and fall?"
Carry?"
Li Muxian was startled, then looked towards the village. When he looked back, Chang Yu had already got on the carriage.
At the foot of the pine mountain, Chang Yu looked around the mountain. He couldn't see clearly. Then he took out the telescope from his arms and looked at it for a while before putting it down. He handed it to Li Muchian next to him: "Taoist priest, take a look."
After looking at it for a while, Li Muxian put down the telescope in his hand, with a trace of disdain on his lips: "It's just a shabby copycat, I can take it down in just one meal."
Chang Yu smiled: "If this is just a broken village, it is indeed as the Taoist priest said, but..."
"It's just that it's not just a broken mountain fortress. There's also Songshan Fort to the west. The two places complement each other and are both offensive and defensive. It's not easy." Li Muxian took the words and sighed: "We want to go to the west to have a look?"
"Since we're here, of course we all have to take a look," Chang Yu said in a tone, and drove west.
That's right, he came here just to see with his own eyes the topography, topography and layout of Songshan.
Although the spies had already carefully explored every plant, tree, mountain, and rock here, and even drew a detailed map, Chang Yu still had to go and conduct an on-site investigation in person.
It's just that you can come to this place if you want. The Tatars have so many scouts scattered around the outside day and night, and you won't be allowed to get close at all.
Although he had been here once before, he came around from the seaside for an ambush in the middle of the night and then left quickly. It was late at night and his eyes were completely dark and he could not see anything.
But if you want to conduct close-by reconnaissance in broad daylight, you have to either force your way in, or look for an opportunity at the right time and place.
If you break in forcefully, it may bring about many unexpected consequences, and it may also trigger many uncontrollable conflicts, but the opportunity is also rare.
Now the time has come.
It was snowing heavily, and the Tatars were very cautious in preparing for war. This was a golden opportunity, so after viewing the trench construction site, he rode his horse.
"Lord Governor, why are you here?"
Chang Yu was about to go to Songshan Fort when a group of troops appeared in front of him. It was Ji Jike who came around. He thought they were Tatar reconnaissance cavalry and killed them, but he was surprised to find that it was Chang Yu and his group.
"Come and take a look," Chang Yu said casually, and then asked, "Have you seen it too?"
"I've been around three times to see it really clearly," Ji Jike replied.
Hey, Chang Yu raised his head and glanced at the mountain: "I went around three times and there was no movement on top. I'm so patient." He said with a smile: "You went around three times and didn't make a move. You're so patient."
Ji Jike laughed loudly after hearing this: "My lord, I only guessed half of it right this time. The patience of those idiots above is indeed good, but the patience of my subordinates is not that good."
Oh, Chang Yu was stunned for a moment: "Maybe you went up the mountain?"
Ji Jike nodded, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "But I didn't go up."
&nbs .
"Back to Lord Du Gong, the younger one brought more than ten brothers up, but he was beaten down before he reached the halfway point of the mountain, and four brothers were injured," Wang Fuchen said through gritted teeth.
Hehe, it’s time to chew on a hard bone. Chang Yu chuckled, and Wang Fuchen’s face turned red: “If the governor allows me to have 300 people, I am willing to achieve military merit and kill them all on the mountain in one meal!”
"Then what?" Chang Yu raised his eyebrows.
"Then...then" Wang Fuchen didn't know what to say for a moment and turned to look at Ji Jike.
Ji Jike raised his hand and waved him away: "Even if we go to the top of the mountain, so what? Three hundred people can't break through this stronghold. They probably won't even be able to get in. They might even leave three hundred heads there!"
"In General Ji's opinion, how many troops can defeat this stronghold?" Chang Yu asked with a smile.
Ji Jike thought for a moment: "If there is no help from Songshan Fort, three thousand people will be needed!"
"I can defeat him with a thousand men." Wang Fuchen couldn't help shouting again. Ji Jike turned around and glared at him: "Fart, you think attacking the mountain is a field battle! What's more, there are at least thousands of Tatars up there!
"
Chang Yu smiled, glanced at Wang Fuchen, and then looked at Ji Jike: "Keep grinding!"
After Chang Yu left, Ji Jike turned back and looked up Songshan Mountain. Wang Fuchen behind him couldn't help but said: "General, please..." Before he could finish his words, Ji Jike whipped him over with a horsewhip and shouted sternly: "If you really have the ability,
, I will never force you to do anything, but if you continue to speak so brazenly and speak arrogantly, I will definitely not spare you!"
"General, calm down, I have realized my mistake!" Wang Fuchen quickly dismounted his horse and kowtowed. Ji Jike snorted coldly: "Go and get the heads of three Tatars to make up for today's mistakes!"
A few hundred meters away from the southeast corner of Songshan Fort, Zu Zerun was sitting motionless on his horse. There was a lot of snow on his body. From a distance, he looked like a snowman. Behind him, there were more than a thousand Ming troops waiting in formation, like a nail in the coffin.
Motionless, they were looking at Songshan Fort and Li Guo and his party wandering outside Songshan Fort.
Chang Yu's sudden arrival surprised Zu Zerun. What kind of place is this? This is Songshan Fort. If the Tatars knew that the great eunuch was outside, they would have to kill him even if they risked the lives of thousands of soldiers in the entire fort.
.
The courage of this eunuch was truly unparalleled by ordinary people, and Zu Zerun admired him deeply.
However, Chang Yu didn't say much to him. He just asked where Li Guo was. When he learned that Li Guo was sneaking outside Songshan Fort, he also rode there. Zu Zerun was worried that something had changed and wanted to lead his troops there, but he was
Li Muxian, "Hold on, if you don't follow, there's no need to worry. If you go, it'll be hard to say!"
Zu Zerun thought for a long time before he figured it out, but he still felt that this eunuch was too generous. Aren't you afraid of a cold arrow from above?
Afraid, how could you not be afraid.
So Chang Yu told everyone not to get closer than a hundred steps.
In fact, based on the height of the castle, the archers above can easily shoot a hundred steps away, and the sharp archers can even shoot up to two hundred steps away. However, the heavy snow today blocks the sight. Even standing at the top of the city, the sight distance is only tens of meters.
, no matter how far away you are, you won’t be able to see anyone unless you look carefully.
But even so, everyone is worried. Although everyone is wearing armor, if someone gets their head shot...
Kuang Ren took the bow from behind, nocked an arrow, and stared at the city with a nervous breakdown. Once he found an archer on the city, he would shoot him without hesitation!
It's not that the Qing troops at the top of the city didn't notice someone sneaking below. Li Guo's group had already been sneaking around for several times. It's not that no one wanted to make a cold arrow, but firstly, there were orders from above not to act rashly. Secondly,
The line of sight is like a lake, so it is not clear. The third thing is that the distance control of the opponent is very subtle. At the end of the range, someone tried it, but it was neither accurate nor impossible.
There is a river flowing through the southeast corner of Songshan Fort. This is also the water source in the fort and the moat of the fort. However, it has frozen at this time. Chang Yu walked around the city along the moat to check. Chang Yu had not seen the previous Songshan Fort, but
The Songshan Fort in front of him made him frown. The city wall was about two feet high and its circumference was about three miles. It was considered a military fort at the border and was equivalent to the size of a small county town in the mainland. That's why it was called Songshan City.
The fort is a traditional square shape with doors on all sides, and each wall has several protruding crenellations. This is a defensive fortification that facilitates the crossfire of firepower. This alone is more rigorous and complete than the fortification of Tashan Fort.
It's not that Tashan Fort doesn't want to be so rigorous, but in fact it's time constraints and heavy tasks.
When I wrote about the reconstruction of Tashan Fort before, some book friends asked, why not build a prismatic fort?
The prismatic castle is the standard configuration of those castles in Europe. They don't want ours to be square and round, with many protruding or recessed parts. Its main function is to facilitate cross-fire defense.
But when I saw his question, I thought it was funny.
First of all, building that kind of castle is very time-consuming and laborious, and it can't be completed in a few years. However, Tashan Castle was repaired under the harassment of the Qing army, and there is not that much time. Besides, you think it is square and square.
Doesn't the fort have any fortifications for crossfire?
It is undeniable that Europe has a long history, and their fortresses are indeed very useful, but our Chinese dynasty also has a history of thousands of years, and has been fighting and killing for thousands of years. Do you think our ancestors have been fighting for thousands of years?
Have you gained experience in actual combat?
Let’s not talk about the fact that many of the fortresses in Europe are about the same size as our forts and can be easily crafted. Even large cities with a radius of more than ten or dozens of miles are second to none in this regard.
What is the purpose of the barbican outside the city gate? What is the purpose of the watchtowers in the barbican? They are all fortifications with cross-fire power. Don’t be misled by movies and TV shows and think that our city wall is a square and flat city wall. Go and see
If you look at those old photos of Beijing and Xi'an, you will find that the city wall has a protruding battlement every tens of meters. The entire city wall is like a gear, not a smooth wall at all!
And what are these protruding battlements for? They are a firepower cross network!
Again, the ancestors have been fighting for thousands of years, so why haven’t they thoroughly studied it? It’s not about putting others down and raising yourself up. In this regard, we are really at the level of our ancestors.
But in just a few decades after the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the development of firearms, everything, whether it was the European bastions or our arrow towers and urn cities, became useless.