Chapter 224: Decisive Battle with Youyun (15)
Gubeikou military camp came and went, shouted and neighed, and it was a busy scene.
After the Zhou army occupied the Gubeikou military camp, the three hundred Zhou army soldiers hid at the bottom of the mountain quickly transported 2,000 war horses to the military camp. The Khitans had good horses, and there was a small horse farm in the mountain village that accommodated 500 people. Wang Tengxiang saw all the war horses entering the military camp. The horse farm did not seem crowded, and he couldn't help but wonder: "The Khitans were really strange. They actually built a horse farm in the military camp on the mountain."
In addition to the horse farm, what surprised Wang Tengxiang was that there were actually many shovels, hoes and hot turtles in the military camp. It seemed that the Khitan army had made sufficient preparations to defend this dangerous pass, but Gubeikou had not launched troops for a long time. Although it was a defensive weapon, it was successfully attacked by the Zhou army and was useless, and the Zhou army soldiers were vacant.
The Zhao army envoy and the Ning army envoy each led 500 troops to build fortifications at the two mountain passes in the south and north. The soil was extremely thick and hard. If there were no shovels and hoes found in the military camp, it would be not easy to dig a deep trench. At sunset, the fences and trenches at the north and south passes had begun to take shape. The Zhao army envoy and the Ning army envoy set up camp behind the fence, and a soldier was on duty behind the fence.
The next morning, Zhou Jun was still trying to dig deep into the trench. After more than a day of hard digging, the trench was more than five meters deep and more than six meters wide, and some sharpened tree stumps were installed below.
More than thirty steps behind the trench is a solid fence. This is actually a log that is tightly arranged together. The logs are almost four or five meters high, buried one meter underground and exposed about three meters outside. Then several strong and strong soldiers rammed the soil with temporary stone hammers, and the wooden fence became extremely stable. If you want to open the wooden fence, it would be extremely laborious.
In order to prevent fire attacks, the soldiers also pasted thick mud on the wooden fences, which is also a common method to defend the city.
On the inside of the wooden fence, a ridge of nearly two meters is filled. In this way, if the enemy's arrows are fierce, the sergeant can avoid the wooden fence. If the enemy's offensive is slightly weak, the sergeant can stand on the ridge and shoot arrows outwards.
Behind the ridge, Zhou Jun built a shooting platform with wood, which could be used to shoot more than a dozen crossbowmen.
Wang Tengxiang was originally a border general and guarded Lingzhou City for many years. He was an expert in building fortifications. This design was deeply rooted in the essence of building field fortifications.
The sergeants from the south and north mountain passes were rushing to construction. A loud arrow suddenly shot out from the middle of the mountain, and the sudden scream was like a whip, slashing hard on every soldier in the military village. Everyone's first reaction was to grab the weapons around them.
Khitan reconnaissance cavalry appeared at Nanshankou.
These Khitan troops were garrisoned in Qingshui River (the same name as Guyuan and the same heart as Qingshui River). There were 4,000 people. Like Wang Tengxiang's troops, they were also light cavalry. After receiving the order from the command of Xiao Siwen, the governor of Youzhou City, they rushed to Gubeikou without stopping. Unexpectedly, they were still one step too late to hurry up. When they just approached Gubeikou, they encountered soldiers who escaped from the military camp.
The Khitan Scout Cavalry went along the mountain road to Gubeikou Military Village. From the bottom of the mountain to the Nanshan Pass, there was a slanted upward passage, which could walk side by side for five or six cavalry. The Khitan Scout Cavalry knew that Gubeikou Military Village was occupied by the Zhou army, but they did not expect that the Zhou army would build fortifications on the Nanshan Pass. Seeing that the Zhou army was closely defended, they did not dare to attack. They left dozens of people to monitor the Zhou army from afar and sent a scout cavalry to report to General Jiaxingu.
The war horses on the mountain road were useless. Khitan generals Jia Xingu and Wang Tengxiang made the same choice, putting all the war horses on the mountain, leaving some soldiers to guard them, and rushed to the Nanshankou with three thousand people.
"Grandma, these southern barbarians are so cunning." Jia Xingu looked at the deep ditch and thick fences on the Nanshan Pass and took a breath. He rubbed the goldfish bag on his face vigorously, thinking about how to break through the Nanshan Pass.
The Khitans never prepared food and grass when they marched and fought. Instead, they were robbed by soldiers everywhere, called Dacaogu. Jiaxingu was ordered to reinforce Youzhou, but Xiao Siwen ordered him to station in Qingshui River, which made Jiaxingu very angry. If he could not enter Youzhou City, he would not be able to obtain food and grass. Jiaxingu could only let the soldiers search for food and grass everywhere in the Qingshui River basin. There were many Han people living in Qingshui River, and their families had the habit of storing grain. Jiaxingu's troops were very rewarding.
These Han people have been on the border for a long time, and the people are very strong. After the food is robbed, dozens or hundreds of people will gather together. As long as you find a single or small group of Khitan soldiers, you will attack them. Jiaxingu lost a lot of people one after another, so he sent a large army to encircle and suppress these Han people, but there was no trace. After a while, Jiaxingu was extremely angry but helpless. If His Majesty had not issued the imperial edict to defend Youzhou from Qiying Mountain, he would have turned around long ago.
Jiaxingu looked at the wooden fence and the deep trench for a while, and ordered: "Dako, you bring five hundred people up the mountain to cut trees, Xiao Silin, you bring five hundred archers to guard the front of the trench." Gubeikou is located in the middle of the mountain, so there is naturally no shortage of trees. The thick trees are laid on the trench, and the trench becomes the main road. Jiaxin's ancient ideas are the real siege ideas.
After receiving the order from the deputy general Dako, he selected some soldiers who used the axe from the army. They brought the axe to the edge of the mountain, and soon the sound of "bang, bang" chopping trees came.
There were more than 100 Zhou army soldiers on the hillside. They had already chosen the dangerous place to attack the Khitans. Because the forest at Gubeikou was very dense, the Khitans did not need to climb up the mountain, so they cut down trees at the foot of the mountain. The task of the Zhou army soldiers was to prevent the Khitans from going up the mountain. The Khitans cut trees at the foot of the mountain, and the Zhou army soldiers did not launch an attack, and everyone was at peace.
Ning Junshi stood on the wooden platform behind the fence. He frowned and observed the Khitan army's every move, while Wang Tengxiang still had a calm face.
The Ning Army Envoy finally couldn't help it and said anxiously: "General Wang, it seems that these trenches are not even useful. The Khitans will attack soon. Why don't we retreat to the military camp?" Wang Tengxiang calmly said: "Nanshan Pass is extremely narrow, and there can only be more than a dozen people on the front. No matter how many Khitan soldiers there are, they cannot be used. Ning Army Envoy does not need to be in a hurry."
The Khitan sergeants and Zhou army soldiers had already started shooting across the trench. Although the Khitan archers had accurate archery skills, the Zhou army was protected by wooden fences. When both sides went back and forth, no one could completely suppress the other side. In comparison, the casualties of Khitan archers without protection were greater than those of Zhou army archers.
Just as the Khitan army and the Zhou army were shooting at each other, the Khitan soldiers who cut down the trees carried the trees outside the trench one after another. Seeing that the Zhou army was not shooting violently, Jia Xingu concluded that the Zhou army was not large in number and waved the horse whip. He ordered: "Give more archers, and the Southern Barbarians were not allowed to poke their heads out."
Wang Tengxiang stood on the wooden platform and carefully observed the movements of the Khitans for a while. He saw a Khitan general wearing black iron armor pointing fingers, and then said to the crossbowman beside the wooden platform: "Get a crossbow arrow, aim at the black armor Khitan general."
When Hou Dayong commanded the battle of Qingshuihe in Di, Wang Tengxiang learned many extremely powerful tactics such as "concentrating the use of crossbow arrows and gunpowder" from the Black Diao Army. After returning to Feng Jiye's army, Wang Tengxiang concentrated all the crossbowmen in the army together and organized them into Fengzhou Crossbow Camp. In the conflict with the Shu army's local border, the Fengzhou Crossbow Camp also showed great power. The Shu army suffered a lot. After becoming the deputy commander of the imperial guards Longjie left wing, Wang Tengxiang also formed a crossbow camp in other troops, but this camp was not organized for a long time, with only a hundred people. They all used crossbows, and their combat power was far from comparable to those of the Black Diao Army crossbowmen.
With Wang Tengxiang's "firing" order, more than 30 crossbows on the wooden platform were fired at the same time, and the "boom, boom" sound was like a tiger's roar.
Jia Xingu was outside the arrow range. He did not expect that Zhou army would set up a crossbowman position on the wooden platform. After the crossbow arrow was fired, he had no time to react. More than a dozen crossbow arrows were shot on his body almost at the same time. The power of each crossbow arrow was extremely huge, not to mention that more than a dozen crossbow arrows hit at the same time. Jia Xingu flew several meters in the air and hit a big tree next to the trail.
The Zhou army soldiers behind the fence let out a roar that was terrifying.
Without close contact, the Khitan army broke down and its momentum was abrupt. Deputy General Dako led his troops to retreat beyond the range of the crossbow arrows, and did not dare to approach the wooden fence for a while.
After one blow, Wang Tengxiang also showed a smile on his face. The Ning Jun envoy on the side was already excited and he shouted: "Shoot the horses first when shooting people, capture the thief first. General Wang is really using troops like a god."
Wang Tengxiang's smile flashed and his face soon became calm. He said, "The Gubeikou is the key point in the Battle of Youzhou. The Hou Prime Minister's eyes are really sharp and always make people feel that they are overwhelmed." Wang Tengxiang sighed and said, "The Khitan Army in Youzhou and the Khitan Army who went south to reinforce will definitely fight to the death to open up this passage. The fierce battle has just begun." By the time of the last two sentences, Wang Tengxiang's face was covered with frost.
Ning Jun Envoy gradually calmed down his smile as Wang Tengxiang's tone. He looked at the Khitan army with a large number of people outside the wooden fence and said, "I wonder if General Yuan's infantry has arrived."
The mission of Wang Tengxiang's troops was to seize the Gubeikou with the speed of the cavalry, and the commander of Longjie Du led 4,000 infantry troops to follow up. The main purpose was to replace the cavalry of Wang Tengxiang's troops.
Wang Tengxiang thought silently in his heart for a while and said, "According to the infantry and local itinerary, it should be tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. If General Yuan's infantry can reach the mountain pass on time, the Khitan army will undoubtedly be defeated." Wang Tengxiang paused for a while and said, "These Khitan troops do not have any heavy weapons. It seems that like us, they are also cavalry, and I am afraid that the Khitans will have support."
Speaking of this, Wang Tengxiang also had a faint look of worry in his eyes. He told Ning Jun: "The fence is not wide, and it is useless to have too many sergeants. You only place fifty sergeants to guard the fence at a time. The rest of the sergeants rest on the spot, change once an hour, and try to preserve their physical strength." He turned around and said to the personal guard behind him: "The reserve teams in Gubeikou Military Village all went to the south and digged trenches behind the North Mountain Pass."
Ning Jun Envoy's face was completely condensed, and he said, "General is ready to defend Gubeikou to the death." Wang Tengxiang did not directly answer Ning Jun Envoy's words, and said to himself: "I want the Khitans to compete with me in one trenches and one trenches. When they attack the military camp, they will be greatly damaged."
The Khitan Army's commander Jia Xingu died in battle, which greatly damaged the morale of the Khitan Army. Three hours later, under the leadership of the Khitan general Dako, the Khitan soldiers braved the bows and arrows of the Zhou army and spread the chopped thick tree poles on the trenches. By dusk, all the trenches at Nanshankou were paved with thick tree poles, and the trenches no longer existed.
As soon as the Khitan Army had taken over, they sent a team of giant axe soldiers to rush to the fence without fear of death and used giant axes to slash the fence. The fence was full of logs as thick as a washbasin, and the bottom was about one meter deep into the ground. Although the Khitan Army's giant axes had been in trouble, it was difficult to move the fence for a short time.
A row of Khitan archers approached the trench, and the iron arrows like locusts shot towards the wooden platform. More than a dozen crossbowmen on the wooden platform had already retreated and set up a formation outside the range of arrows. Only Ning Junshi stood on the wooden platform. The two guards pushed a square wooden table and half-squatted on the wooden platform, protecting Ning Junshi with the square wooden table.
Ning Jun's face was covered with beads of sweat the size of beans, and his face had lost its gentle expression, looking a little ferocious. The square wooden table could only protect his lower body. He raised the small round shield used by the cavalry, and while thrusting iron arrows, he observed the enemy situation.
As the giant axe was desperately chopping, there was a big gap in the log. Countless Khitan soldiers had rushed forward. Many Khitan archers entered the trees on the trench and shot arrows desperately. At this time, the Zhou army soldiers in the fence were completely suppressed by Khitan archers. As soon as they showed up, countless iron arrows would fly over. They were lying behind the wooden fence, holding long spears, waist knives, cavalry round shields and other weapons. They just waited for the Khitans to break through the wooden fence, and fought to the death.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Ning Juncheng suddenly waved back and shouted, "Take the pots." Ten strong men, holding pots, ran a few steps in their hands, and then threw them violently. The pots flew over the wooden fence and fell to pieces. Before the Khitan soldiers could react, a row of rockets fell from the sky.
All the ten pots were filled with turbulent oil. After they were broken, the turbulent oil splashed everywhere. The Khitan soldiers on the trench had a lot of turbulent oil. After seeing the fire, the turbulent oil burned violently. Dozens of firemen screamed and jumped around, trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies, but the mountain road was narrow and filled with Khitan soldiers. The firemen had nowhere to escape and let out a thrilling scream.
Chapter completed!