Chapter seven hundred and seventy-ninth seize the stronghold
Na Heyanzhen's counterattack, trying to save the defeat, was disintegrated by a volley of light smoothbore cannons when two thousand cavalry rushed out of Yangwuyu and were still more than 300 steps away from Liang Jun's forward two-wing defense line.
There were more than three hundred corpses of men and horses, including many wounded soldiers and horses who were destined to die more.
Na Heyan really didn't dare to send troops out to counterattack anymore, but with the defense system on the west side of Yangwuyu, how long could he hold on without collapse under the bombardment of 70 to 80 large and small heavy artillery?
After the heavy smoothbore cannon has been calibrated, the shells can be accurate enough to hit the main wall. As long as there are no ricochet bombs, a solid shell can't kill many people.
However, when the artillery shells hit the main wall and even the houses made of masonry behind the wall, they caused countless bricks and stones to splash. The power was no less powerful than the scattered stone bullets thrown by the cyclone cannon. They were more numerous and densely packed.
It could even overturn heavy shields and break them into pieces. This made the Mongolian army unable to bear it and they had to walk down the wall to escape.
At this time, Liang Jun on the forward line took advantage of the shooting gap to move forward step by step to clear the passage approaching the village wall.
"Yan Jiang is dead! We can't defend Yangwuyu, retreat!" Na He Yanyun was wearing a silver armor, holding a halberd and a shield, guarding against the flying bricks and stones, climbed up the wall of the village, and held the stunned man
He Yanzhen roared.
"Why is Yan Jiang dead? Didn't he go to the dental tent just now?" Na He Yanzhen woke up with a start and asked in a trembling and sharp voice.
"An iron bullet penetrated the wall, and Yanjiang's waist was beaten into two pieces. It was too horrible to watch!" Na He Yanyun cried out sadly, "Liang Jun has a magical weapon to help him. God has abandoned the Wu Su family. Na He family, if you don't do it anymore,
If you leave, you won’t be able to leave!”
Na He Yan was so confused that he was pulled off the wall of the village by Na He Yan Yun. The guards on the left and right didn't care that their escape now would inevitably lead to the collapse of the entire army in the village. If they didn't escape at this time, what would happen?
Of the 6,000 defenders in the stronghold, more than 1,600 soldiers were tragically killed or seriously injured in less than half an hour, while Liang Jun was still unscathed - at this time, Liang Jun's forward troops had already paved the passage to
Outside the vicinity of the village wall, several large iron pipes for firing solid iron bullets were even dragged to a low slope on the northwest side. Apparently, they wanted to take advantage of the height there to gain a commanding position so that they could more accurately shoot the iron bullets into the village.
of generals.
The stockade was three to four hundred paces square, but there were more than six thousand generals and a similar number of horses. The concentration of people and horses was unimaginable. Every iron bullet fired into the stockade was likely to cause casualties.
Before the war, they were used to strengthen the fence walls and wooden sheds of the camps as a defense against catapults and cannons. However, at this time, they were easily penetrated by solid iron bullets and did not have the desired effect.
The defenders had almost collapsed and could hardly hold them back. If they refused to leave, they would not be able to escape the tragic ending of the entire army being destroyed when Liang Jun suddenly charged in from the west wall. If they escaped at this time, they might still be able to help Na He.
Save your last bit of energy...
…………
…………
Seeing that the general Na He Yanzhen was the first to flee eastward, the last bit of resistance of the defenders in the stronghold suddenly collapsed completely at this moment. Thousands of troops immediately became a mess, scattered and howling each other.
Escape.
There are only two east and west gates in Yangwuyu. The east gate is less than two feet wide when opened. After all, it is a mountain village and the walls are all made of thousands of people nearby.
Strengthened by civilians.
The Mongolian army of four to five thousand men and horses, plus a large amount of looted property, and women all rushed to escape through such a narrow exit. Imagine how crowded it would be!
People shout and horses roar, and the north wind whistles!
The battalion commander Yang Yan held the horizontal knife in his mouth and climbed the ladder to the west village wall. He saw the people in the eastern half of the village tumbling on their backs, as if the black mud tide was blocked by the embankment and could not escape. The blood in his chest surged, and he wished he could be the first. Each waved his sword and killed towards the east.
"Yang Manzi, don't be a fool!" General Shen Pingshan's cavalry shouted at the wall of the village to remind Yang Yan.
Dozens of generals turned over and leaned against the slightly sloping, crumbling stone wall and slid into the stronghold. With their swords in hand, they killed the wounded soldiers who had been abandoned within the stronghold wall along the way, and rushed towards the stronghold gate.
In order to buy time to escape eastward, the enemy general Na He Yanzhen blocked his horse, piled deer antlers and other obstacles into the doorway together with a large amount of firewood, and lit it on fire. At this time, a raging fire broke out.
The dozens of generals who first entered the stronghold had to find ways to extinguish the fire, and then cleared the obstacles before they could open the gate of the Baotie stronghold and let their own generals rush into the city quickly.
In a hurry, there is no manpower available to catch and guard the captured soldiers, and they are afraid that the wounded soldiers will break out and injure others. There is nothing safer than the dead. Just kill them with a straightforward last hit. The remaining wounded soldiers will run away in fear to the east. Don't go after him either.
"Disperse, don't stand behind the village gate!"
Four bottles of light smoothbore cannon were dragged to the front of the village gate by mules and horses.
Seeing the waving military flags signaling people to get out of the way, Yang Yan shouted and ordered the generals who had entered the village first to leave from behind the gate of the village. They also moved aside twenty or thirty steps.
The gunfire burst out, and there was a shaking of the ground beneath your feet.
The power of the light smoothbore cannon was slightly weaker, but firing a salvo of four bullets at a distance of fifty paces could still knock down the thick wooden and iron-clad village gate in an instant.
Several iron-wrapped chariots waiting outside the village gate, surrounded by dozens of generals, opened the gate of the village directly. Ignoring the raging fire, they pushed hard into the door opening and directly piled the piles of people into the village gate. The lighted barrier behind the door was broken open by firewood.
The fire splashed everywhere and repeated dozens of times. A large pile of blazing obstacles and firewood were scattered and flew away. They were quickly extinguished and the passage into Yangwuyu was completely opened.
Li Yan, the commander of the brigade, and Shen Pingshan, the commander of the brigade, wore armor and immediately entered the stronghold to direct the subsequent battle to capture the stronghold.
As a trap team, Yang Yan led more than 200 soldiers and were the first batch of troops to attack the stronghold. However, Li Yan did not let Yang Yan directly lead his troops to chase eastward along the main street of Pa Shi. Instead, he asked them to Spread out towards the two wings of the main street.
"Should I use the Fire Crossbow to hit him first?" Yang Yan came out with his horizontal sword and asked Brigadier General Li Yan, who was going to sink Pingshan Road.
The gate of the west village is open, and there are 320 steps from the long street to the gate of the east village. It is crowded with Mongolian generals fleeing for their lives, but there is not a building in the way.
At this time, if we don't drag up the smoothbore cannon and fire from west to east, will we have to spend human lives to intercept the rebels?
Countless people crowded in front of the long street, trying their best to escape through the door, but they were blocked by the narrow village gate. Four light smoothbore cannons fired directly. A solid iron bullet at such a close distance was almost connected. It will only take ten or twenty men and horses to be torn apart to lose momentum.
Complete chaos, trampling of men and horses, howling ghosts and wolves. Occasionally, a few red-eyed Mongolian soldiers holding swords and shields wanted to take advantage of the gap between the smoothbore cannons to counterattack. At this time, Yang Yan led his troops to swarm up and attack the enemy. These enemy soldiers were intercepted; there were also armored soldiers who crossed the gap where the front rifles slid and fired, and entered the village through the village gate.
After the smoothbore cannon was loaded and they saw the military flag on the wall, Yang Yan and the others retreated while fighting, retreating to the two wings and clearing the shooting channel in the middle.
"Fire!" The team leader waved the order flag, and a new round of eight-gun light smoothbore cannons once again passed through the Zhaimen Gate, and fired at a small angle along the long street to the east with a nearly straight trajectory.
At this time, Chen Kun personally rushed to the front line to supervise the battle. He rode on horseback and looked at the Shura field in the village with cold eyes. Every volley fired was a real flying of flesh and blood.
After the enemy's will was completely destroyed, groups of infantry and cavalry filed into the stronghold.
To the east of Yangwu Valley, there are two large camps of the Mongolian army, with a total of 12,000 soldiers stationed. There is also an enemy camp on the west side of Ducheng Ridge, with 2,000 soldiers stationed.
To successfully implement the "Seal the Gate" operational plan, at least the two enemy camps at Heishi'ao at the east foot of Elephant Trunk Ridge and Tianzigou on the west side of Ducheng Ridge must be defeated before the enemy's main force retreats.
The main force of 80,000 Mongolian troops is distributed in Zongheng 70 to 80 miles south of Changyuan Mountain. No one knows when they will withdraw.
It is necessary to completely control Yangwu Valley in the shortest time, and then clear the passage for the infantry and cavalry to surround the artillery battalion. Send troops from Yangwu Valley, turn northeast and kill the enemy camp at Heishi'ao east of Elephant Trunk Ridge, and then attack the stronghold.
Naturally, the handling of defeated troops and insurgent troops cannot be merciful at all.
Except for those enemy soldiers who put down their weapons, fell to the ground, and completely gave up resistance while lying on the ground, those enemy soldiers who showed slight signs of resistance, or even hesitated to put down their weapons and surrender, were not given the time to think about it, and they directly used swords, spears, and bows.
The crossbows all went up to kill him.
The dead are always the safest.
Before Li Xiu's ban was introduced into the stronghold, most of the defeated soldiers in the stronghold had died under swords, bows, spears and crossbows.
Sima De and Cao Zhe, accompanied by Wen Ruilin, entered Yangwuyu at noon. They looked at the corpses of men and horses that were dragged to both sides and were bloody. They also looked at the large areas of blood, broken meat and broken armor splashed on the walls along the street.
film, and his face turned pale.
At this time, the last batch of four heavy front-loading smoothbore guns and four ammunition trucks, pulled by more than thirty troops and horses, crossed the long street, followed the troops and horses that had set off again, and headed towards the wilderness to the east.
What a terrifying weapon this is!
Sima De looked better. Sima had almost made up his mind to return to Luoyang. He was just thinking about bargaining. Seeing the scene in front of him, it was just that there was no room for bargaining anymore, so he would be honest.
I'm going to join you, is it possible that life is still going on?
Cao Zhe's face looked a little ugly.
Liang and Shu belong to two countries. Even though the Liang army has shown absolute strength after the victory at Zhiguanxing, the recapture of Guanzhong and the victory at Fanchuan River, before Cao Zhe went to Luoyang this time, everyone in Shu was still thinking about it.
To remain independent, the most you can do is become a vassal to Liang and pay tribute.
In half an hour, the enemy's will and intention to resist were completely defeated, and in one hour, the military stronghold guarded by 6,000 elite generals was completely captured.
In half a day, more than 3,500 enemy soldiers were killed and wounded, and more than a thousand prisoners were captured. Only less than a thousand enemy soldiers escaped eastward. Liang Jun's casualties were probably not more than 100.
people.
Even if there are 6,000 pigs, it will not be so easy to kill!
This is completely a one-sided massacre!
Before such a big killing weapon, does Shu still have the qualifications to reject the unification of the world and retain its status as a vassal state?
…………
…………
"At first glance, Liang Jun's new war weapon is just an ordinary long cast iron pipe. When fired, fire erupts, thunder explodes, and iron pellets the size of a fist or a sea bowl are shot out. The masonry cracks suddenly. Flesh and flesh cannot stop it, and the armor can't stop it.
It’s falling apart!”
After Na He Yanyun led the remaining troops to retreat to the north of Heishi'ao for reorganization, Na Heyan Zhenzhen entered the Heishi'ao camp with several cavalry at noon and came to see the commander-in-chief, Wu Su Zongshu.
When he talked about the disastrous defeat at Yangwuyu, he felt unwilling, his expression was ferocious, and his eyes were about to burst, but when he thought of the volley of cannon fire, he could not suppress the fear deep in his heart. When he spoke, his hands and feet
They couldn't help but tremble slightly.
It was like a nightmare from which he still hadn't woken up.
Zong Shu frowned and looked solemn. Although several generals under his command were very disdainful of Na He Yanzhen's performance at this time and felt that Na He Yanzhen was exaggerating, he knew that Na He Yan was really not cowardly.
The man of war.
Six thousand elite troops took advantage of the danger and were killed by Liang Jun in less than half a day. The whole army was almost destroyed!
What kind of terrifying weapon is Liang Jun’s new weapon?
"How to block it?" Zong Shu asked in a deep voice with a face as pale as a date.
"A body of flesh and blood is difficult to stop, and an isolated stronghold cannot be defended," Na He Yanzhen murmured, "You should abandon this place immediately and retreat to the open snowy plains east of Jinquan Mountain. This kind of war weapon is
It is made of cast iron and is quite heavy. If we don’t use the existing post roads and drag them through the snowy fields with military horses, it will inevitably be slow!”
"General Yan Zhen, do you know that fleeing without fighting is a crime of death without mercy?" Not only did He Yan Zhen suffer the defeat, he even ran over to persuade them to abandon the camp and flee north. Someone reminded him dissatisfied.
Zong Shu glared at the general who was talking nonsense, and asked He Yanzhen: "If you have deployed your troops and horses outside the stronghold, can you fight with Liang Jun?"
"If the cavalry cannot avoid the firing direction of Liang Jun's new weapons, they must not charge in a dense array!" Na Heyanzhen tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart, recalling the many situations in which Yangwuyu was bombarded, and said, "In addition to the power of the iron pills,
It can penetrate more than a dozen men and horses, and can even bounce up many times after touching the ground. The array is too dense, and it is often damaged by bombardment. The generals are frightened and can no longer fight..."
We must attack in a roundabout way and avoid intensive charges as much as possible...
Tens of thousands of Liang troops were rushing towards Black Rock Au. Wusu Zongshu quickly summarized several key points of contact and combat with Liang Jun from He Yanzhen's relatively coherent words, and immediately conveyed them to the generals.
Four thousand cavalrymen pulled out of the camp and set up formation in the open area east of Black Rock Pass.
…………
…………
"General Mengwu is really not bad, and he has not been killed yet!"
Li Yan reined in his horse and stood side by side with Su Lie, looking at the groups of Mongolian cavalry troops to the north. They looked like dragons scattered in the snow. The six thousand defenders of Yangwuyu were defeated by them in less than half a day.
The battle nearly wiped out the entire army. Unexpectedly, the enemy troops at Black Rock Au still had the courage to go out and fight.
Not only did the enemy generals at Heishi'ao still have the courage to go out to fight, but seeing their cavalry leave the camp and disperse into open areas to form formations, it can be seen that they have already gained preliminary experience in dealing with smoothbore artillery fire in such a short period of time.
It is said that the Mongol people are brave and good at fighting, and this moment makes the impression even more profound.
"The Mongol people have not stopped fighting in the south and north in these years. There are many experienced generals and military attachés in the army, and the tribesmen are also brave and good at fighting. However, after this battle, their will has been basically destroyed!" Su Lie said calmly.
said.
It can be said that Su Lie came from an old-style clan clan, and he teamed up with Han Donghu to secretly recruit the Chishan army to launch a riot in Fuyu Mountain, but was stopped by Han Qian and returned to Xuzhou. It has been thirteen years now.
In the past thirteen years, he has grown from the leader of the Chishan Society to a senior general at the level of deputy capital commander of Daliang. He has also developed absolute self-confidence in battles in the north and south.
If we want to talk about regrets, it is that he relied on his two halberds in his early years. In recent years, he has no chance to lead the charge and charge into battle. And when he goes into actual combat with a fire crossbow alone, he will probably have no chance to show his personal bravery on the battlefield, right?
He also admitted that the Mongol soldiers and civilians were extremely brave and adept at fighting and had strong adaptability, but this could not save them from the tragic outcome of a doomed defeat.
Chen Kun sat on his horse and looked far into the distance, watching nearly 4,000 enemy cavalry fight out of the enemy camp in Black Rock Col in several groups while trying to occupy as much of the wilderness to the east as possible.
To the west of Heishi'ao, there is a trail that passes through Elephant Trunk Ridge and connects the east and west wings of Elephant Trunk Ridge.
According to the current situation, and taking into account the mobility of the enemy cavalry in the open snow, Chen Kun thought that they should give up the idea of annihilating the enemy in Heishi'ao, and ensure that they capture the enemy camp in Heishi'ao first, and then move eastward based on Elephant Trunk Ridge.
Extend the defense and completely seal the gap of about 17 or 17 miles between Elephant Trunk Ridge and Ducheng Ridge.
Only in this way can the nearly 200,000 Mongol soldiers and civilians in Zezhou be completely annihilated, and the combat intention of completely defeating the Mongol people in one battle can be truly realized.
Li Xiu stayed in Yangwuyu to take charge of the overall situation of the northern front battlefield. The forward troops advancing towards the enemy camp in Black Rock Au were led by Su Lie, Chen Kun and Li Yan.
The enemy cavalry used a dispersed charge formation, intending to outflank and reduce the casualties of the artillery in the dense formation. However, in addition to the smoothbore artillery, the elite troops of the infantry and cavalry fought together, and they were not afraid of the enemy cavalry in the open wilderness.
A roundabout attack.
Su Lie, Chen Kun, Li Yan and others adjusted the combat plan in a timely manner and decided to disperse the dense infantry and cavalry arrays to the flanks to guard, covering the main force of the artillery brigade as they pushed forward unswervingly towards the enemy camp in Black Rock Col, ensuring that they would be ready before dark.
, destroying the enemy camp of Black Rock Col with only 2,000 infantry defenses left, and capturing it.
Although the enemy troops in Black Rock Ao had good fighting will and pulled their cavalry troops out of the camp in advance, their cavalry troops only had more than 4,000 people.
Before the reinforcements arrived, Su Lie, Chen Kun, and Li Yan left two thousand elite troops on the southeast side of the east entrance of Yangwuyu Valley as flank guards to intercept enemy reinforcements that might come north from the east foot of Changyuan Mountain.
He also led a total of more than 12,000 infantry, cavalry and artillery troops, advancing northward along the Elephant Trunk Ridge like a raging river, not afraid that the enemy's cavalry would dare to entangle them in a melee.
The enemy cavalry frequently launched from the flanks and tried their best to contain them, which greatly slowed down the advancing speed of the forward troops. However, after leaving the east entrance of Yangwu Valley and heading north along the Elephant Trunk Ridge, only thirteen miles away is Heishi'ao.
Enemy camp.
Two battalions of light and heavy muzzle-loading guns, totaling thirty-six bottles, escorted by two thousand soldiers, entered the predetermined position at 2:00 a.m. and launched an artillery bombardment against the enemy camp in the high-lying Black Rock Col.
The Mongolian army reinforced its troops, and even if they opened up a passage southward to support the retreat of Jincheng soldiers and civilians northward, they could only use the abandoned camps along the way to set up defenses in a hurry, and then make use of simple materials to strengthen the defense.
Many of these camps are extremely narrow. Due to the inconvenience of moving the heavy cyclone cannon - after all, the heavy cyclone cannon, which is often three to four feet high, is difficult to move as a whole. Even if the parts are directly transported to the enemy camp for assembly, it will also require
First, completely control the situation outside the enemy camp.
Therefore, for a short-term stay, the camp is relatively narrow, which is not a fatal weakness.
However, in front of the smoothbore cannon, a narrow camp with many garrisoned troops was too life-threatening.
There were no weapons in the enemy camp that could be used to counterattack, and the enemy army had no preparations to prepare against solid bomb bombardment before the war - such as digging more trenches and holes to hide people, and piling a thick layer on top of the barracks.
The soil, the interior should be reinforced with wood, and the outside of the village wall should be covered with thick clay as much as possible to attract the impact of artillery shells and prevent bricks and stones from splashing and injuring people, etc. These directly determine Wusu Zongshu's stubborn resistance in Heishi'ao.
I can't hold it for much longer.
Thirty-six bottles of light and heavy smoothbore cannons were deployed in the open area from 1,200 to 1,500 steps in front of the enemy camp. The left and right cavalry relied on heavy shields, crossbows and hundreds of chariots to protect them.
Every quarter of a quarter, there is a volley; every four volleys are suspended for a period of time.
Half an hour later, the stone wall on the south side of Black Rock Col collapsed, leaving a huge gap. Most of the casualties among the enemy soldiers on the wall were stones shattered by solid bullets.
Caused by splashing.
The enemy soldiers guarding the camp were unprepared and had experience in dodging solid bullets. Their view was blocked by the camp wall, and the casualties were even more tragic.
Given the bravery and ferocity of the Mongolian army, if the two thousand infantrymen fought on a regular basis and the familiar fighting resulted in four to five hundred casualties, they might still be able to grit their teeth and keep their morale from collapsing.
However, under the intensive shelling that they were unfamiliar with, in such a short period of time, most of the soldiers did not even see the faces of the opposing Liang Jun generals. With more than 20% of the troops killed, how could they fight this battle?
The only thing they were lucky about was probably that Heishi'ao Village faced the mountain, and there were passages to the north and east to escape, so that they would not be like the Yangwuyu Valley where the last three or four thousand defenders were directly trapped in the village and the whole army was destroyed.
