Chu Xin took the lead in using the yin and yang magic array to reach Yangjiao Pass and lifted Chi You's main seal. The yin and yang master cast all their spells and sent the prince, Xu Zhiqiong, Yu Shan and others to the pass one after another.
The city wall of Yangjiao Pass is ninety-six feet high, which is slightly higher than the city wall of Shuangxiong Pass. The pass is built between two mountains and is no more than seventy feet wide. There is not enough fighting space for the enemy to form a large-scale charge.
It is the best defensive one among the three dangerous passes.
It stands to reason that this dangerous pass is the next choice for the siege team, and Tu Nu has no reason to attack Yangjiao Pass on a large scale. Chu Xin also took advantage of Tu Nu's idea to cover up the fatal injury of Yangjiao Pass.
Chu Xin took Xu Zhiqiong and the prince and sat in a hanging basket to a city wall that was more than 60 feet high. He gently scraped off the outer skin of the city wall and vaguely saw a few cracks.
The prince said: "It doesn't look like the injury is too serious. Calling Zhong Shen here might be able to do something."
Chu Xin shook his head and said: "This is a broken muscle and bone. Two months ago, I found this scar at Yangjiao Pass and felt that the situation was not good. I asked a Mohist cultivator to take a look. This damage is difficult to repair unless
Destroy and rebuild the city wall, even if Zhong Shen comes, it will be difficult to repair it for a while."
The prince complained: "If you had told me earlier that I would move all the ascetic workshops here, you wouldn't believe that it could not be done well!"
Chu Xin did not defend himself, he was indeed responsible for this.
But Xu Zhiqiong could understand his difficulties, and hiding it was the best choice he could make.
Two months ago, it was the most difficult moment of the Yongzhou war. There were no ordnance, no food and grass at the three dangerous passes. The soldiers were starved of food. How could they have the energy to repair the city walls?
When the prince brought reinforcements, there were only more than 5,000 people in total, and only more than 1,000 people were allocated to Yangjiao Pass. Repairing the city wall at this time was equivalent to reminding Tunu to attack Yangjiao Pass. How long can it last in the face of a hundred thousand troops?
The only mistake Chu Xin made was to underestimate the enemy.
If we can find out earlier that Tu Nu is moving troops to Yangjiao Pass and let the Onmyoji use the magic circle to contain the intrusion, we can at least delay it for a little longer. The army has already arrived in Luzhou. As long as we can delay it for two or three days, we can drag the army here.
.
How many more days can it be delayed now?
Late at night, the scouts came to report that they saw the enemy camp more than 30 miles north of Yangjiao Pass. The enemy camp was deep in the mountains and their movements were very hidden.
Thirty miles!
This means that we can't delay even one day.
The enemy can reach Yangjiao Pass within a few hours.
In front of Chu Xin, there are two choices.
The first choice is to continue to stick to Yangjiao Pass.
The north wall of Yangjiao Pass should still be able to withstand one or two hundred flying stones. Once the north wall is knocked down and the enemy rushes into the pass, you can still engage in street fighting with the enemy. If the street fighting fails, you can still defend the south wall.
According to Chu Xin's estimation, with this method of attack, if more than 5,000 people are called over, it can last for almost two days.
But the question is, can the army reach Yangjiao Pass within two days?
The prince used Onmyoji to communicate with Liang Jixiong, but Liang Jixiong's reply was no.
Even if the army breaks off its legs, it will still take at least three days to fight against all the Onmyoji in the army.
Can we hold on to Sheepjiao Pass for three days?
Most likely it won't be delayed.
The unstoppable concept is that all five thousand troops will be killed. What's worse is that the south wall of Yangjiao Pass is not damaged. If it is occupied by the enemy, this uniquely dangerous pass will become a nightmare for Daxuan's army.
The second option is to stick to the mountain road outside the pass.
You have to pass a mountain road to get to Yangjiao Pass.
The mountain road is seven or eight miles long, with a cliff on one side and a hillside on the other. This terrain is most suitable for an ambush.
However, the benefits of an ambush are limited, so Chu Xin made precise calculations for this.
If five thousand men ambushed the enemy on the hillside without the enemy knowing anything about it, they could annihilate up to ten thousand enemy troops, because this mountain road can only accommodate ten thousand enemy troops.
What follows is a hand-to-hand battle on the mountain road. How long can an army of five thousand hold on?
Don't have too many illusions, stick to it for one day at most.
This is still the most optimistic estimate, because it is impossible for Tunu to be unaware of it.
There will definitely be an ambush along this road. If Tunu's generals have some military common sense, they will send out scout troops in advance to clear out the ambush.
Suppose Tunu sent an army of ten thousand men to attack the mountain first and eliminate the ambush, how long could these five thousand men hold on?
It seems that the most reasonable tactic is to stick to Sheepjiao Pass.
The prince sent a message to Liang Jixiong, asking him to send troops to Yangjiao Pass as quickly as possible at all costs.
What was originally intended to be a well-prepared battle has now turned into an exhausting and hard-fought battle.
Chu Xin mobilized all soldiers and ordnance to Yangjiao Pass and concentrated his manpower to reinforce the city wall.
There was a lot of work going up and down the Sheep Horn Gate. Xu Zhiqiong scraped off a few pieces of wall skin from the city wall and said to Chu Xin: "Give me five hundred soldiers and I will guard the top of the mountain."
The prince was surprised and said: "What kind of mountain should we guard? Didn't we promise to guard the city gate?"
Xu Zhiqiong looked at Chu Xin and said, "You understand!"
Chu Xin does understand.
Delay the enemy on the hillside for a day.
Delay the enemy in the city gate for two days.
This is the only tactic that has any hope of delaying the arrival of the army.
Chu Xin originally planned to go there in person, but Xu Zhiqiong was the first to ask for help.
The prince understood what Xu Zhiqiong meant and shook his head repeatedly: "Zhiqiong, you can't go, you can't go!"
Xu Zhiqiong sighed: "If I don't go, who else can go?"
"Xu Qianhu, you have to think about it." Chu Xin looked at Xu Zhiqiong.
There is no possibility of coming back alive from this trip.
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said: "If I don't go, who else can I let go?"
No matter what, Chu Xin must be allowed to survive. There is still a battle to be fought.
The prince must also survive. The soldiers can see him and know why they are fighting.
Yu Shan came from a well-known family and was so handsome that he was suitable to die on the mountain.
But Yu Shan kept his head lowered.
It’s not his fault. Yu Shan is not a coward. He dares to fight even if he is close to death. But this time, he will not survive.
Chu Xin asked Xu Zhiqiong: "Besides five hundred soldiers, what else do you want?"
Xu Zhiqiong put forward three conditions.
"First, all the sergeants who came up the mountain with me must tell the truth. This battle is very dangerous, and they will be rewarded with huge sums of money!"
Chu Xin said: "It is indeed appropriate to reward him with a lot of money, but if he tells the truth, I am afraid that he will not be able to gather 500 people. According to the rules of the military camp..."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "I don't care what your rules are. Since I am leading the army, you must obey my rules. A strong man is willing to sacrifice his life for the country, but you cannot lie to them to die! Anyone who dares to lie to them will be killed by Xu."
Thousands of corpses!"
The remaining half of the sentence was left unsaid.
If someone really deceived the soldiers to follow Xu Zhiqiong up the mountain, Xu Zhiqiong would make him never reincarnate.
Chu Xin nodded after hearing this.
"Second, ask two Onmyojis to follow me up the mountain and set up a magic circle. If they are seriously injured and can no longer fight, I have to send them away!"
Chu Xin agreed.
"Third, give me five hundred flags."
"Five hundred flags?" Chu Xin asked in surprise, "What do you want the flag for?"
Going to the mountain is an ambush, and there is no point in using a flag.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "It's just five hundred flags, what's the problem?"
Chu Xin was really in a bit of a dilemma because there were not so many flags at Yangjiao Pass.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Hurry up and make preparations. At dawn, the enemy will probably advance. I will go to the mountain and wait! There is one more thing to make clear. Since I go up the mountain to fight for my life, the lantern holder can't go back. Already."
Chu Xin nodded again.
Xu Zhiqiong left Yangjiao Pass and came to the mountain alone.
This mountain is called Qianlonggang, and a mountain road winds like a Qianlong on the mountainside.
The mountain path was not too narrow, about three to four feet wide, and the hillside was not too steep. After walking more than 70 steps along the hillside, we arrived at the first ambush site.
This place is called Jianfenglin. As the name suggests, this place is suitable for arrow fighting.
The trees in the Arrow Wind Forest are very lush, and soldiers can hide behind or on the trees to shoot arrows at the enemy.
The advantage is that because of the dense trees, even if the enemy is ambushed, it will be difficult for them to launch a counterattack.
The disadvantage is that there is no other means except shooting arrows, which can cause limited damage to the enemy. If five hundred soldiers squat in the woods and shoot arrows, the enemy can ignore them and forcefully rush through the mountain road with their shields raised.
After walking out of Jianfeng Forest and walking more than a hundred steps sideways, we arrived at the second location suitable for an ambush, Mi Niuping.
This is an open space, and when there is no war, local people will cultivate this land.
There is a path from the bottom of the mountain leading to Burian Niuping. The path is quite steep, and it is a bit difficult for people to get up. It is absolutely impossible for cattle to get up. However, cattle are still needed for farming, so you have to carry the calf to the flat while it is young.
Once a cow goes up to the flat, it will never come down again in this life. Until it dies of old age, it will be buried on the flat, so this place is called Burial Niuping.
The terrain here is open and there are no trees to block it. Rolling stones and logs can be arranged, but it takes time to prepare rolling stones and logs.
And precisely because there are no trees to block it, the enemy can rush up to Bu Niuping. Although the path is difficult, they can rush up as long as there is a road.
After passing Niuniuping, there is a forest of thorns. The dry thorns are entangled on the hillside like barbed wire.
The enemy can't come up through the thorns, and the soldiers can't ambush in the thorns. The thorns are so dense that it's useless even if they get in, and they can't even shoot arrows out.
Xu Zhiqiong was thinking about where to ambush when he suddenly heard someone say: "It's better to choose Jianfenglin. The enemy is coming soon, and it's too late to prepare rolling stones and logs now."
It's Wu Shanxing.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Brother, if you don't defend the city well, why do you come here to die?"
Wu Shanxing smiled and said: "When it comes to the battlefield, brother, I am very tough, I will definitely not die. Before the enemy comes, go to Jianfeng Forest quickly and don't make any noise."
"Buried Niuping can also be defended," Niu Yuxian pushed a log over, "It's hard to find stones, but there is a lot of wood here."
Chu He carried two logs over and said, "There is indeed a lot of logs. There will be more people soon. We can prepare a lot of logs before dawn."
Xu Zhiqiong frowned and said, "Did Chu Xin ask you to come? I made a promise to him not to let the lantern holder come!"
Chu He snorted and said: "You don't take me with you, why do you still treat me as your brother? You have a thousand households, how can I still be a Bai Denglang!"
Niu Yuxian said: "We came out secretly. We asked someone to tell us a fortune. We will die quickly in the city wall. If we are here with you, we might still be alive."
Xu Zhiqiong said in surprise: "Who did you ask to tell the fortune?"
"It's up to us," Tong Qingqiu and Han Chen came over, "You want two Onmyojis, they are both here."