Wang Yuan's five thousand light cavalry were carrying two days' worth of dry food and drinking water, in preparation for going out to pursue the enemy at any time.
Zhu Houzhao's 500 cavalrymen in the Leopard House did not bring anything with them. They also took off their two layers of heavy armor and threw them on the way to pursue the enemy. Therefore, they did not wear enough clothes. It became colder and colder after nightfall. Now they are shivering around the fire to keep warm.
The light cavalry divided their rations so that they did not need to kill horses to satisfy their hunger for the time being.
"Your Majesty, Governor, the beacon materials are ready!" A close aide named Zhu Zhong from the Leopard Fang rushed over.
Zhu Houzhao said happily: "The beacon will be lit tomorrow."
Wang Yuan frowned and said: "We are afraid that we have entered the mountain nearly ten miles away. If we light the beacon smoke here, it will be difficult for the friendly troops to see it. We must go to the top of the mountain to light the fire."
Zhu Houzhao immediately called the mountain people who had surrendered to the army and asked: "Where is the best place to climb to the top of the mountain outside?"
A young mountain man replied: "The place suitable for climbing is four or five miles behind the Mongolian Tatars. The farther you go into the mountains, the steeper the mountains become, making it impossible for the army to pass. But I can pick a place to climb up, and then throw
Lower the rope, it will be much easier to climb."
Wang Yuan immediately ordered to go to the mountain people's homes to collect ropes.
Ordinary ropes are too thin to bear the weight for a long time, so they can only be braided into one. This is not enough. Wang Yuan also asked the soldiers to cut the horse's tail and mane and use them all to braid them into ropes. This thing is still very strong.
of.
The beacon fire in the army is a signal ten miles away, but it is difficult to observe no matter how far it is.
To create beacon smoke that can be seen ten miles away, it is naturally impossible to burn some thatch. It requires dry firewood, wet firewood, grease, cattle and sheep dung and other materials to be used alternately. The cow and sheep dung also has to be poured into a semi-wet state with water.
Only in this way can we create the billowing smoke rising into the sky.
The mountain people who were responsible for climbing the mountain wall were very capable. They probably got it from hunting and gathering medicine. They climbed up the steep cliff more than ten feet (about 50 meters) high with only a medicine hoe and bare feet.
There are not enough ropes, only two are made, and only two people can climb up at a time.
Even so, after a few people climbed up, one of the soldiers lost his grip and fell twenty or thirty meters to his death.
Then a group of four people use ropes to pull the beacon materials up. After the beacon materials are piled on the mountain, they will continue to send people to climb. There must be at least twenty soldiers going to burn the beacon smoke. Firstly, it is convenient to transport a large amount of beacon materials, and secondly,
If someone falls off the mountain along the way, there are enough people to catch up.
At five o'clock in the morning, we finally gathered 20 people, and they were immediately led by mountain people to set off.
The top of the mountain here is relatively open, so you don't need to light a torch to block your way. After about two miles of progress, the mountain people asked the officers and soldiers to light the torches. The situation further ahead made people's legs and feet weak.
Most of the mountains are covered with loess, and soil erosion is very serious. In many places, the surface loess has been washed away, exposing the siliceous sand and gravel below. The top of the mountain is getting narrower and narrower, and there are uneven gaps everywhere, often only one can fit in.
People climb up and down.
If you are not careful, you will step on loose loess and then lose your footing and fall from the top of the mountain.
Two soldiers were killed on the way, and including the mountain people, there were only nineteen people left in the beacon team.
By this time it was getting dark, and the mountaineers climbed up to a high ground and suddenly shouted in terror: "There are Tatars!"
The Mongolian soldiers were divided into two groups, but they only found an easy climb in the south. They had no ropes to use, and more people fell to death while climbing. Then there was the rugged top of the mountain, and several more people accidentally fell to death on the way.
At this moment, a mountain man plus eighteen Ming troops stared at each other with thousands of Mongolian soldiers.
This broken place makes it difficult to walk normally, let alone wielding a knife and opening a gourd.
"Form up!"
The Ming Dynasty flag officer responsible for leading the team reacted quickly. He piled the firewood they carried on their backs in front of them to resist the arrows, and then lit the beacon fire on the spot.
Even if there are thousands of Mongolian soldiers, they can only catch them blind at this moment. They have to line up one by one, and they have to be careful if they slip and fall. Their only way to attack is to shoot arrows from the air.
The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty all relied on firewood and were not affected by arrows at all.
First light the dry firewood, then add the grease, then spread a layer of wet firewood, and then throw in some semi-dry and semi-wet livestock dung. Just add layer by layer in this way, and they can burn the beacon materials for at least half a day.
The Mongolian soldiers were still firing arrows. They couldn't get through themselves and they wouldn't let the enemy come over.
…
Bring back the dawn.
After the beacon team finished climbing the mountain, Wang Yuan said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I will go up too, and I will leave this place to Yuan Er's command."
Zhu Houzhao was afraid that Wang Yuan would fall down: "What are you going to do?"
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I will lead my troops to climb up and throw stones at the heads of the Tatars. If I can find the Tatar leader, I may be able to find an opportunity and shoot him with an arrow."
This time it was Zhu Houzhao's turn to dissuade him: "Just send someone else."
Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "My archery skills are better."
Wang Yuan had lived in the mountains since he was a child. Climbing cliffs was a common thing, not to mention having a rope. He was very strong, stepped on the mountain wall, grabbed the rope, and climbed up quickly and neatly, more than twice as fast as an ordinary soldier.
When it got daylight, more than 20 people from the Ming army successfully reached the summit.
Wang Yuan personally led a team to search for stones, but there were not many stones on the top of the mountain, and he could only break off some lumps of loess.
The Tatars once again organized an attack, and those who were responsible for filling their lives were naturally those tribes who were bullied. Anyway, Dayan Khan would not feel distressed. This time, his losses were a bit heavy. He sent more tribes who were usually disobedient to die. It can strengthen the rule of Dayan Khan family.
As long as we can capture the Han Emperor, everything will be worth it.
Wang Yuan asked his soldiers to place the lumps of loess on the top of the mountain without throwing them down for the time being. He took out his telescope, lay on the top of the mountain and observed carefully, and soon discovered a Mongolian leader who was organizing an attack.
If you feel dissatisfied, continue observing.
After a while, Wang Yuan seemed to have discovered the location of the Tatar Center.
There were several Mongolian leaders there, riding on the shoulders of the soldiers to observe the battle. This was because there was no high platform in the valley, and the shoulders of the Mongolian soldiers were higher than those of the Mongolian war horses.
During the previous few days of fighting, Wang Yuan used a telescope to observe the enemy leader.
Among them, Dayan Khan has a high appearance rate. After all, this person is the center of the Tatar formation.
Suddenly, Wang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He actually saw Dayan Khan. This man was riding on the shoulders of a soldier, supported by soldiers on both sides, and was calmly observing the battle ahead.
Wang Yuan changed to a better sniping position, took out the rhinoceros bow, and stringed a heavy arrow.
At this time, the vertical distance between the two sides was only more than fifty meters. In order to facilitate shooting, Wang Yuan actively adjusted the sniper position, so that the straight-line distance was only sixty or seventy meters.
Being so close, Wang Yuan had full confidence.
In fact, Wang Yuan was afraid that Dayan Khan would move randomly, so instead of aiming at the throat and head, he aimed at the opponent's chest.
"Whoosh!"
A heavy arrow flew out, and Dayan Khan lowered his body and said to his eldest grandson Buchi: "In such a battle situation, we should..."
Before he finished speaking, Dayan Khan was hit by an arrow in his left shoulder and was knocked back.
Wang Yuan quickly took another arrow, and before the bowstring was fully drawn, he shot out another arrow, this time hitting Dayan Khan's calf hanging upside down on the soldier's shoulder.
Two consecutive arrows hit the target, and the Mongols finally reacted and surrounded the injured Dayan Khan.
Suddenly, billowing smoke suddenly rose from the top of the mountain two or three miles away.
"Stones thrown!"
After Wang Yuan finished speaking, he took out his horn and blew the trumpet of attack from the top of the mountain.
Twenty or thirty Ming soldiers dropped lumps of loess from the top of the mountain. Even if the loess was loose and dropped dozens of meters high, if it hit someone, they would lose half their lives.
With the smoke behind them, the horns and falling rocks above their heads, the Mongolian army suddenly became panicked.
"There is an ambush, retreat quickly!" Bu Chi hugged Dayan Khan's body and shouted.
The leader of the Tatar tribe, the veteran boy, shouted: "Leave two thousand people to break the queen, leave two thousand people to break the queen!"
After his death, Dayan Khan's life and death were unknown. Bu Chi, the heir to the throne, took Dayan Khan to flee first. How could other tribes remain calm? What's more, the Mongolian soldiers fighting bloody battles at the front all came from less central groups.
The tribe suffered heavy casualties and had long been resentful.
More than 10,000 Mongolian troops scrambled to escape. Some fled on horseback, while others ran on foot. The roads in the valley were narrow, and the number of Mongolian soldiers who trampled on each other to death was several times more than those who died in the previous bloody battle.
Although Zhu Houzhao and Yuan Da could not figure out what was going on, they heard Wang Yuan's charge call and immediately ordered their soldiers to mount their horses and pursue them.
There were too many Mongolian soldiers trampled to death by friendly forces in the valley. The Ming cavalry almost stepped on the enemy's corpses and pursued them in a long snake formation. Zhu Houzhao hated it in his heart. He had such a good opportunity to kill the enemy, but he was blocked by his men behind him.
The terrain is too narrow and the BMW's advantages cannot be fully utilized.
Wang Yuan quickly ran back to the place where he went up the mountain, hung a rope and slid down, then mounted a random war horse and chased after him.