Tong Erdan did not realize the seriousness of the problem. Although Tian Chang was hesitant and believed that the Huaidong Army would not attack without aim, he could not see through the doubts.
In their view, the Huaidong Army set up suspension ropes to ferry people across the river at night, and they only used common hemp ropes. The Huaidong Army first sent outposts to lurk over, tied the hemp ropes to giant trees on both sides, and hung them in the valley.
Go up, it is true that you can snatch a group of troops over here when they are not prepared, but that's the extent of it.
Although the Huaidong Army will deploy a large number of bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows to block the rivers upstream and downstream of the suspension rope to prevent naval warships from destroying the suspension rope, the effects of bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows are not unlimited.
First of all, the accuracy of bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows is actually very low. They can only be used to their maximum effect when shooting at large targets such as dense enemy formations or city walls. Really ask a person to stand there and shoot with a bed crossbow three hundred steps away.
, it’s just one or two hits out of ten; if you throw it with a scorpion crossbow, you may not be able to hit even one out of ten stone bullets.
The warships were built with thick wooden sides and awnings, which provided considerable protection against bed crossbows and ordinary scorpion crossbows.
Although Huaidong's heavy riprap crossbow can cause structural damage to warships, heavy riprap crossbows are generally used for fixed purposes such as smashing city walls. If used to attack fast-moving warships in rivers, the accuracy will be poor.
Poor situation.
The Huaidong Army used suspension ropes to ferry people across the river, but the efficiency was also slow. Furthermore, the suspension ropes could be used to ferry people across the river, but it was unsatisfactory to use the suspension ropes to ferry heavy objects across the Han River.
The Huaidong Army was strong in battle, but it was stronger in two ways: first, its generals dared to fight, and second, it had excellent armor and weapons.
Scorpion crossbows and refined iron bed crossbows each weighed five to six hundred or even more than a thousand kilograms. These war weapons from Huaidong caused great damage to the Zhejiang, Fujian and Northern Yan armies. Tian Chang and Tong Erdan thought about the Huaidong army.
It is absolutely impossible to transport these heavy and sophisticated weapons to the south bank through suspension cables...
Tian Chang and Tong Erdan first led 3,000 soldiers and horses under Ma Tuhai to march along Shilong Ridge towards Shanmen Rock. When they arrived at the outskirts of Shanmen Rock at sunset, they realized that the matter was much more serious than they expected.
In fact, during the march, Tian Chang received three messages, each one more serious and more heartbreaking than the last:
First, a reconnaissance force of about 60 horses sent by the Qiangu Camp of Miaotan Ridge in the early morning was ambushed by the Huaidong Army outside Shanmen Rock. It lost nearly half of the men and horses. It was determined that they had crossed the river to Huaidong on the south bank through a suspension cable.
The number of soldiers is much greater than imagined.
The second is that when a navy stern boat was dispatched from Gucheng and rushed to the scene of the incident, they did not expect that after the suspension cable was straightened, it was 14 to 15 feet high from the river. When the Huaidong Army's crossbow fired on the north bank,
Down, the stern boat was not accurate enough to stop in the turbulent flow and reach up directly to destroy the suspension cable. Although rockets were fired randomly, it had no effect. The stern boat had to withdraw to the middle of the downstream rise to avoid the Huaidong Army's attack on the north bank.
But we had to wait for Xiangyang, where the navy sent a tall-masted warship from the lower reaches, and it would take until after noon at the earliest.
The third is that in the early morning, the Huaidong Army's soldiers and horses lurking on the south bank attacked the Huyatan sentry post in the early morning. Fifteen soldiers guarding the sentry were wiped out. Currently, there is a Huaidong Army occupying the Huyatan sentry post.
Signs of exit…
The situation was far more serious than imagined. Hearing that the Huaidong Army had sneaked to the south bank and occupied Huya Beach, Tian Chang felt chills running down his spine. He could almost guess what the Huaidong Army's intention was in this rescue operation!
Shanmenyan and Huyatan are less than four miles apart, separated by gentle slopes and dense forests. The two places seem not far apart, but it is definitely not possible for the Huaidong Army to rush over and control three to five hundred people at the same time!
More importantly, Shanmen Rock is located at the west foot of Miaotan Ridge, and Huya Beach is located at the east foot of Shilong Ridge. In the middle is the slope valley between the two mountains. If the Huaidong Army deliberately controlled Shanmen Rock, Huya Beach and the slope between the two mountains,
Valley, that means the Huaidong Army's next intention is to cut off the passage from Xiangyang to Gucheng...
Tian Chang failed to attack Shanmen Rock directly, but at the end of the day, more than 300 Huaidong troops occupied Guanyin Point at the eastern foot of Miaotan Ridge, blocking their access to Huyatan or Shanmen Rock.
Tian Chang sent Matuhai to lead his troops to attack Guanyin Point. If Guanyin Point is not lowered, it will not be able to hit Huya Beach and Shanmen Rock behind it.
Guanyinjian is a broken ridge at the east foot of Miaotan Ridge. The terrain is not connected with Miaotan Ridge. It is isolated in the slope valley and is only more than 20 feet high. Although it is somewhat steep, the Huaidong Army that entered Guanyinjian could not reach it.
Three hundred people and three thousand soldiers and horses followed Tian Chang, a nearly ten-fold advantage in strength, enough to overcome all terrain obstacles. The Huaidong Army had just entered Guanyinjian and did not have enough time to use the terrain to establish
Enough defense.
Tian Chang asked Ma Tuhai to personally lead the troops to the front of Guanyin Peak, and sent 600 armored soldiers with large shields to attack from the pine forest in front of the mountain at once. With an absolute advantage of troops and horses, the Huai army who tried to occupy Guanyin Peak would be defeated.
The Eastern Army was torn to pieces - Tian Chang and Tong Erdan sat on horseback and commanded the battle on a huge rock less than a mile away from the foot of Guanyinjian Mountain.
The cold wind was howling, and snow particles were already falling from the hazy sky, but it did not affect the fighting.
Tian Chang could clearly see the situation of his armored soldiers suppressing the attack on Guanyin Point. At first, everything went well. The sharp arrows fired intermittently from the forest by the Huaidong Army could not break the protection of the large shield, and the six hundred soldiers could suppress their faces.
Climbing the slope, we kept approaching the Huaidong Army who was organizing defense in the forest.
But for some reason, the soldiers and horses climbing up the slope stopped halfway up the mountain. A dozen people at the front suddenly stumbled to the ground, and the Huaidong Army was asked to take advantage of the chaos and shoot several people from the forest——
Horse ropes and caltrops? These two things flashed through Tian Chang's mind instantly, and he secretly cursed the attacking generals as useless people. He failed to notice such simple obstacles, and ordered the Huaidong Army to shoot and kill several people in vain.
Tian Chang calmly looked at the battlefield and could see that there was still a gap of more than ten feet wide in the middle that was not affected.
In this situation, the generals should slow down, gather in the middle, huddle up to prevent the Huaidong Army from counterattacking from the mountains, send people to clear the obstacles on both sides, and stabilize the position before attacking upward——
Since the valley camp in front of Miaotan Ridge had dispatched scouts and horses as early as early in the morning, although the scouts and horses were ambushed north of Guanyinjian, with nearly half of the casualties, a dozen people were always monitoring Miaotan Ridge and Shilong Ridge.
areas in between.
Tian Chang knew that the Huaidong Army had captured the Guanyin Peak only half an hour earlier than them. He was still extremely surprised to see that the Huaidong Army was able to set up a four to five hundred paces wide barrier in the forest using horse ropes and iron caltrops.
As long as the obstacles are just snagging ropes, thorns, etc., they are easy to remove!
Perhaps the soldiers who were attacking were also confused about the obstacle belts on the two wings. The battalion general responsible for pressing forward was hesitant and did not immediately order the soldiers to gather in the center to form a formation or to disperse to the two wings.
Tian Chang was so angry that he cursed and was about to send someone to ask Matuhai what his battalion general was doing for food. At this moment, the soldiers of the Huaidong Army violently charged out from the gap reserved in the middle.
Four or five flying shield carts were pushed down from the pine forest by Huaidong soldiers. From a distance, it was clear that these four or five shield carts were much heavier than ordinary ones. Tian Chang watched helplessly as they went down the slope.
With his troops forming a shield formation with dozens of large shields at the gap, the Huaidong Army's shield chariot overturned - this was not a shield chariot, it was obviously a powerful and heavy iron chariot!
The shield array could not be used to block the impact of the Huaidong Army, and the soldiers parked at the edge of the pine forest hesitated and did not retreat to the center in time. The weak defense line in the gap in the middle almost caused the Huaidong Army to rush out in the blink of an eye.
Kill and defeat.
Tian Chang's expression was ugly. Ma Tuhai was a direct descendant who had followed him for more than ten years. Although these three thousand soldiers and horses were not the most capable elites under his command, they were better than other generals. He did not expect that they would fight so poorly.
, making him extremely embarrassed in front of Tong Erdan.
Seeing that Ma Tuhai was barely able to stand firm at the foot of the mountain, he used bows and crossbows slightly higher on both wings to block the opening where the Huaidong Army could directly attack the foot of the mountain, so that the scattered soldiers halfway up the mountain could retreat and regroup; Tian Chang attacked Ma Chi.
When he came to Ma Tuhai, he gave him a hard look and scolded him: "What the hell are you fighting? It's embarrassing..."
"The mountains and woods are all wrapped with this kind of iron wire, and there are also caltrops inside," Matuhai held up a piece of iron wire cut from the mountainside and showed it to Tian Chang, complaining, "The Huaidong Army
It was so cunning that they left a wide gap in the middle, and the shield-carts they used were made of fine iron from the front shield to the frame, and the spearheads were cast on the shield plate like roots.
Tian Shuai, you have also seen that the Huaidong Army is condescending and uses this thing to rush down from the gap, and there is no way to stop it from below!"
Tian Chang took a breath of cold air. More than 300 Huaidong soldiers were guarding the south of Guanyinjian Mountain. It seemed that the slope in the south of the mountain was gentler. In fact, these 300 Huaidong soldiers deliberately used this gentler slope to suppress the depression.
The attacking soldiers and horses repeatedly charged and killed...but the wire Matuhai handed over shocked Tian Chang even more.
Suozijia had been around for a long time, and iron wire was not considered a rarity. However, in Tian Chang's impression, the length of iron wire made by craftsmen to make Suozijia was no more than one or two feet, and the wire that Matuhai handed him was only 1 to 2 feet long.
Six feet long...
The Huaidong Army was able to transport heavy shield vehicles made of fine iron to the south bank, and the wire used by the Huaidong Army to wrap around the trees was much longer than expected - according to the description of the soldiers who were scattered, it was about three to four hundred
The whole forest was wrapped with iron wire. It was no wonder that the Huaidong Army was able to use the iron wire to wrap around the tree as a stake in such a short time to create an obstacle.
"How can we attack this mountain?" Matuhai smacked his lips and cried out in pain, "We can't ask our brothers to risk their lives!"
Ma Tuhai was still thinking about how to take down the Guanyin Point, but Tian Chang was thinking about something else: If the suspension rope that the Huaidong Army set up between the river valleys on both sides of the river was this kind of wire, then the situation would be more deadly than expected.
Much more! This thought made Tian Chang's forehead break out with a layer of sweat under the sparse snowflakes!
Tian Chang stood stunned for a moment, and then he thought of folding the wire in his hand four or five times, twisting it into a rope shape, throwing it to the ground, and drew his knife to chop it.
Tian Chang's sword is naturally a rare sharp blade. If he doesn't hesitate to use the knife, he can cut off an iron bar as thick as his finger. However, it took five or six consecutive cuts to cut off the iron wire that was broken into several pieces...
"General Tian is saying that the suspension rope erected by the Huaidong Army may be this thing?" Tong Erdan was not stupid after all. Tian Chang's unusual behavior also reminded him of the key point. This rope made of broken wire was placed on the ground and he could cut it with a sharp knife.
Five or six blows, if it is hanging in the air, there will be no place to lend strength when cutting, and it will be ten times or a hundred times more difficult to cut off!
If the suspension ropes set up by the Huaidong Army could not be burned or cut off, wouldn't the Huaidong Army send troops and horses to the south bank with endless energy?
Tong Erdan was stunned when he thought of the powerful and fatal part.
"Leave two battalions of soldiers and horses for you. You can form a formation at the foot of the mountain and keep an eye on the enemies at Guanyin Peak. However, you must also be prepared for the Huaidong Army to come over from Shanmen Rock..." Tian Chang stared at Ma Tuhai.
At Guanyinjian, he and Tong Erdan led the other three battalions to reorganize their troops and horses, go around Guanyinjian, penetrate inward, cut between Guanyinjian and Huya Beach, and boarded the Moshi Cliff less than two miles away from the Han River.
Looking to the north, where is the suspension cable between Longzhao Rock and Shanmen Rock? It is clearly a suspension bridge with only half of the pallets paved!
The Huaidong Army wants to build a suspension bridge directly between the river valleys on both sides of the river!
The location where Tian Chang was standing was Shanmen Rock, which was only three miles away. He could see the suspension cable erected between Shanmen Rock and Longzhao Rock, and he could also see the Huaidong Army's four to five hundred troops deployed south of Shanmen Rock.
——Unexpectedly, before the Huaidong Army laid the suspension bridge, thousands of people had already crossed over through the suspension cable!
Since the Huaidong Army can also transport heavy iron shield vehicles to the south bank, it must not be short of bed crossbows, scorpion crossbows and other war weapons. Wanting to compare, Tian Chang led his troops to rush over, but the advantage in strength was actually
Let the Huaidong Army's sophisticated war weapons completely suppress it!
At this time, Wuya and Lin also received Ye Jiluorong's military order and led two thousand soldiers and horses from Qiangu Army Valley.
Wuya and Lin's troops stopped south of Guanyinjian. Surrounded by his cavalry, he came to Moshiya to meet Tian Chang and said, "According to the order of Prince Mu, Helin came to call for General Tian's dispatch.
Why don't He Lin attack Guanyinjian first..." In his words, he looked down upon Tian Chang's direct troops for actually entangling Guanyinjian's 300 Huaidong troops.
"Don't worry about the enemy at Guanyinjian, General He Lin. Your vanguard will come in immediately to attack Shanmen Rock. If we can't take Shanmen Rock, we will both be in disaster!" When Tian Chang ordered, his hands and feet were trembling.
In Xiangyang, the navy's warships have to arrive from the lower reaches. The fastest is to delay the afternoon. Even if the warships can arrive in time, they will soon cut off the suspended iron cables directly on the water surface. Then they can only attack Shanmenyan from the front and take the
Get off the Huaidong Army's suspension bridge and block the Huaidong Army on the north bank, unable to cross!
Wu Ya is a nobleman of Yandong, and Tong Erdanzhi and Lin may not necessarily be convinced by Tian Chang's command, let alone ignore the threat of Guanyinjian's enemies from behind and directly ask him to use all his strength to attack Shanmenyan?
Tong Erdan briefly explained the seriousness of the problem to He Lin and said: "It is related to the survival of the soldiers and horses on the south bank. You must implement General Tian's order immediately..."
At this moment, a carriage came from the south. As they approached, they saw Hu Zongguo stumbling over from the carriage.
"Prince Mu was very worried after hearing the news that the Huaidong Army was attacking Huyatan. The Huaidong Army's ambitions are not small." Hu Zongguo climbed up the Moshi Cliff and panted to explain the reason for his coming. His eyes were not as bright as Tian Chang's.
Looking into the distance with blurry vision, they asked Tian Chang: "Is the Huaidong Army building a bridge?"
Tian Chang nodded, his hands and feet were cold. In his field of vision, the Huaidong Army on the north bank had laid the trestle bridge to Shanmen Rock, and on the Dragon Claw Rock on the north bank, groups of Huaidong soldiers were ready to cross the river on the bridge.
…
On the three-hundred-step-wide suspension bridge, you can see with the naked eye dozens of Huaidong troops laying pallets on the bridge. If it takes half a cup of tea to pass a group of Huaidong soldiers at a time, that is to say, Huaidong
The army can project thousands of soldiers to the south bank in one hour!
"There is no time to attack Shanmenyan." The despair in Hu Zongguo's heart was no less desperate than that of Tian Chang. Only then did he fully understand why the governor had no intention of fleeing north in Huangpi. The governor was completely desperate in Huangpi! No matter how desperate he was, he couldn't.
Hu Zongguo gave up. Even though his hands and feet were weak, Hu Zongguo continued to give Tian Chang advice, "Quickly withdraw all the troops and horses and retreat to the south of Guanyinjian. It would be great if the warships coming downstream can destroy the suspension bridge."
"If the suspension bridge cannot be destroyed, we can only use every method and every possibility to suppress the Huaidong Army crossing the river to the north of Guanyin Point, and we cannot let them pour out from this gap..."