After the Yellow River turns eastward at Fenglingdu, for hundreds of miles, the river surface is wide and the water flow is gentle, which is more suitable for navigation. However, the calmer the place, the more murderous intent is hidden.
Tens of millions of tons of sediment are carried by the river water and flow to the east. The water of the Yellow River is extremely turbid, flowing like syrup. The slightest ripple will cause a whirlpool. Once the viscous river water starts a whirlpool, it is difficult to stop it. It is powerful
Dragging it with the inertia of the river, the huge pulling force brought by the weight of the river water itself is enough to tear an ordinary boat into pieces.
Dark eddies are hidden under the river water, just like poisonous snakes lurking in the grass. Once disturbed by ships, they will emerge and grow into huge mouths to devour passing ships. Therefore, most ships sailing on the Yellow River are along the
Sailing along both sides of the river, it is easy to not dare to go to the middle of the river.
However, the river crossings at Xiaopingjin Ferry and Mengjin Ferry are much better. First, the water flow is relatively fast and it is not easy to form dark eddies. Secondly, even if dark eddies are formed, they are relatively small and have little suction power.
The ship basically can't pull it anymore.
After learning that the Jin army invested 3,000 stone in carriages and ships, the boatmen no longer worried and signed up one after another to earn the high employment money offered by the Jin army. They were given five guans for a round trip. Who wouldn't want to do it?
The boatmen hold on to the handlebars, barefoot, and pedal hard on the wheels as if walking on flat ground. Sweat rolls down their backs, and they breathe heavily. The keel drives the paddle wheels on both sides of the boat, and the boat moves forward rapidly.
, since it is a large ship of three thousand stones, there is basically no need to consider the dark eddies underwater, but there are still experienced old boatmen squatting on the bow of the ship, concentrating on observing the changes in the water surface.
Pei Xin also stared at the water. He could clearly feel that the ship was undulating violently from time to time. This was when it encountered a dark vortex. However, the ship was huge and solid, and such a small dark vortex was somewhat powerless against it.
The boatman, Boss Qiu, smiled at Pei Xin and said, "Actually, this kind of vehicle and boat may seem like it stirs up waves in the water, but it's actually safer. General, don't worry."
"Why?" Pei Xin asked puzzled.
"I'm afraid of paddling on the Yellow River, especially the big oars that are several feet long. Each stroke will create a spin. Although it will dissipate quickly, if you paddle too fast, the spin in front will not disappear, and the spin in the back will not disappear.
Here it comes again, the accumulation of power will definitely form a vortex, and once a vortex is formed, it cannot stop."
Pei Xin understood. He nodded and said, "I heard that officials from all over the country will throw river-suppressing stone beasts into the Yellow River, just to eliminate the dark vortex?"
"There are various considerations, and eliminating dark vortices is one of them."
At this moment, a rapid horn sound was heard from the opposite bank, "Woo~Woo~". Pei Xin was startled and quickly strode to the bow of the ship. It turned out that they were less than a mile away from the south bank.
The soldier pointed to a sentry tower several feet high on the shore and said: "The sound of the horn came from the sentry tower. General, please look, there seems to be someone on top!"
The sky was clear, and they could see very clearly that someone was indeed blowing the horn on the watchtower.
Pei Xin nodded. It was normal for them to be discovered. The key was the enemy's reaction.
Mengjing Pass is not just close to the Yellow River. It is still two miles away from the Yellow River. It is built on a high place and is built according to the mountain. The terrain under the mountain is narrow and cannot be used for battlefields, making the pass easy to defend and difficult to attack.
It is on the only way to Heqing County, and Heqing County is on the only way to Luoyang.
Below Mengjin Pass are woods and rolling hills, and a stone wall dozens of miles long has been built on the bank of the Yellow River. This stone wall is both a breakwater and a defensive wall. Thousands of people are usually deployed behind the wall for defense, but
Today is a special holiday. Most of the soldiers have gone to the county town to drink and have fun. The defense line of usually 4,000 people only has less than 1,000 people on duty.
The eight hundred soldiers on duty were alerted by the sound of the trumpet. They threw themselves on the defensive wall and looked at the approaching ship in horror. The general on duty was so frightened that he immediately sent someone to report to the general.
The first large ship docked on the shore, and the defending soldiers immediately fired a volley of arrows. However, the Jin army was well prepared. They held short spears and large shields and lined up to rush down from the large ship. They immediately formed a crossbow formation and used shields to cover it.
They exchanged fire with the enemy, and then the second and third ships docked. More and more soldiers joined the crossbow corps, gradually suppressing the enemy behind the stone wall.
More and more large ships docked, and the spear soldiers behind them appeared. Two thousand people shouted and rushed towards the stone wall. The stone wall was about eight feet high. No ladder was needed. You could just build a human ladder to climb the stone wall.
The soldiers of the Jin army climbed onto the stone wall one after another, and the crossbow troops behind them also turned to attack soldiers. Three thousand soldiers attacked them, but eight hundred soldiers could not resist them. After more than three hundred casualties, General Lang shouted, "Retreat!"
"
The remaining 500 soldiers turned around and ran wildly. Crossbow arrows were fired intensively from behind. More than 200 soldiers were hit by the crossbow arrows and fell down in the grass. Only less than 300 people fled back to Mengjinguan.
At this time, the alarm bells at Mengjin Pass rang loudly, warning smoke was lit, the beacon at Xiaopingjinguan was also lit, the beacons at Beimang Mountain were also lit, and the beacon at Luoyang City was also lit.
Several homing pigeons took off into the sky and flew towards Jianghuai with the urgent news that the Jin army was attacking Mengjinguan...
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ The alarm bell sounded in Heqing County. There was chaos on the streets. They were having a drink at Jinshan Restaurant. Coach Wang Ling, who was celebrating his birthday, was stunned. What was going on?
Several cavalrymen rushed into the city and arrived directly in front of Jinshan Restaurant. Wang Ling and a large number of guests had already arrived at the door.
"What happened?" Wang Ling asked sharply,
The leading soldier came forward and knelt down on one knee and said: "Commander, the Jin army is attacking Mengjing Pass in a large scale. The defensive wall on the edge of the Yellow River has been lost. The city is in danger. Commander, please return quickly!"
‘Clang!’
The wine glass in Wang Ling's hand fell to the ground, and he suddenly shouted: "Cancel the vacation, all soldiers will return to the customs immediately! Return to the customs!"
‘Boom!’ An earth-shaking loud noise came from the direction of Mengjinguan. The ground was shaking. People around screamed and squatted down, covering their ears.
Wang Ling's ears were buzzing. He also squatted down and looked up to the north, only to see a thick cloud of smoke rising into the sky in the direction of Mengjinguan.
"Boom!" There was another earth-shattering explosion, and thick smoke rose into the sky again in the direction of Mengjinguan.
When the explosions subsided, there was chaos in Heqing County, with people and soldiers scrambling to flee out of the city...
The explosion of the two iron fire thunders was caused by Yang Xuanying. It was also a mistake. Yang Xuanying led his army to pursue the enemy, and they chased them all the way to Mengjin Pass. The defenders at the pass were afraid of accidentally hurting their own people, so they did not fire arrows. Yang Xuanying was
Seizing the opportunity, soldiers from the firearms battalion arrived. They carried two large iron fire mines. Yang Xuanying detonated one at the gate of the pass and another under the east city wall, blowing up the entire northern city wall.
Thousands of soldiers were killed or buried by the collapsed walls.
When Pei Xin led thousands of people to kill, there was no one in Mengjin Pass, and thousands of defenders retreated in fear.
"Why don't you obey the military orders and attack the city without authorization?" Pei Xin asked very dissatisfied.
Yang Xuanying's face turned red and she murmured an explanation: "Bizhi didn't plan to attack the city. There was no archery at the top of the city. A group of brothers from the Firearms Battalion happened to arrive, so I couldn't help it."
Pei glared at him fiercely and said: "His Highness arranged the attack on Mengjin with deep intention. When to send troops, when to attack the city, and when to attack Luoyang, all must be considered comprehensively, so we must strictly implement military orders and our tasks
Whether to capture the beachhead, whether to capture Mengjinguan or not is still the same thing, but you..."
Yang Xuanying clasped her fists and knelt down on one knee, "I know my crime because of my humble position!"
Pei Xinxin was really helpless and could only wave his hand and said, "Now that we have captured it, we will arrange defenses to prevent the enemy from retaking the pass."
"Follow the order!"
Yang Xuanying left in a hurry, and Pei Xin sighed. He really didn't know how to explain to the general?
At noon, the second batch of three thousand troops arrived at the south bank. Li Bing was the first to step off the ship. When he saw the explosion, he vaguely guessed it, and his face was a little ugly.
Pei Xin stepped forward, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists, saying, "I am here to apologize for my humble position!"
"Why do you ask for forgiveness?"
"I disobeyed military orders and captured Mengjing Pass."
Li Bingbing said coldly: "I guess that's what happened. Why didn't you obey my order and order the seizure without authorization?"
"Bizhang didn't give the order to seize the barrier, but he didn't explain it clearly. When the opportunity arose, his subordinates couldn't help but use the iron fire thunder. This is the responsibility of Bizhang, and everything is borne by Bizhang."
Li Bing stared at him for a long time and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin explained that he was to put pressure on Mengjing Pass and not attack, so as to force Zhu Si to withdraw from Jianghuai. Although the effect of capturing Mengjing Pass is the same, it will be difficult for us to attack Mengjing Pass next time."
Yes, you are actually causing trouble for ourselves."
"Are we still going to evacuate Mengjinguan?" Pei Xin was stunned.
Li Bing nodded, "We have surrounded Luoyang, why would Zhu Si attack Li Na on our behalf?"
Pei Xin's back was covered in cold sweat, and he was extremely ashamed and said: "I know my crime because of my humble position!"
"It must have been Yang Xuanying who captured Mengjinguan!"
"It's because I didn't explain it clearly to him due to my humble position."
Li Bing pondered for a moment and said: "You have violated military orders and should be severely punished, but I don't want to damage your morale, so I will not punish you publicly. I will write to His Highness the King of Jin and propose a demotion to you. If His Highness the King of Jin does not approve it,
That’s your luck, so be it!”
Pei Xinxin sighed secretly. He knew that the general had forgiven him and did not publicly hit him. This was to save his face.
"Thank you, General, for your tolerance!"
Li Bing patted his shoulder and said meaningfully: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin thinks about things differently from us. After all, this world is still the world of the Tang Dynasty. If His Highness the King of Jin takes action too early, he will be reviled by the people of the world, so why not borrow Zhu Si's hand?"
Erase the mark of the Tang Dynasty. If you want to grow into a general, you must understand these things."
These words flashed through Pei Xin's mind like a bolt of lightning, and he suddenly had an enlightenment. Many things that were confusing before were now suddenly clear to him.
He quickly bowed and saluted, "Thank you, General, for your teaching. Pei Xin is grateful!"