Chapter 716 0711 [Meat-Mincing Battlefield]

In the northern mountainous area of ​​Shouyang, there is a Yangxing Valley Village, which controls the passage to Wutai County.

It was previously in the hands of the Jin soldiers, but now it has voluntarily given up.

This village is too far from the Jin city, and the road along the way is all mountain valleys. Military rations need to be transported from Dingxiang or Wutai.

There are too many Jin soldiers stationed, and the transportation of military rations cannot bear it.

There are too few Jin soldiers stationed, and they cannot withstand the attack of the Ming army.

The righteous army in Wutai and Dingxiang counties also played a huge role. Unable to bear the oppression of the Jin people, they fled into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare, and attacked the Jin soldiers' grain transport team in an elusive way.

Originally, transporting grain to Yangxing Valley Village consumed a lot, and the righteous army in the mountains often harassed, so Wanyan Zonghan had to send troops to escort the grain.

After doing this for several months, the Jin army could not bear the military rations, so they simply gave up this military village and stationed troops at two valleys further north.

The righteous army in Dingxiang and Wutai counties was overjoyed, and the mountainous area where they were active was finally connected to the territory of the Ming army.

Zhang Guangdao immediately sent armor, clothes and food to the rebels. The Shanxi rebels, who were replenished, gave the Jin soldiers even more headaches. From time to time, they crossed mountains and ridges, bypassed the valleys guarded by the Jin soldiers, attacked the rich families who had taken refuge with the Jin people (many of the rich families were really wronged), and also intercepted and killed the fake soldiers and officials who went to the countryside to collect grain.

If the Jin soldiers came, the rebels would always get the news in advance and immediately flee into the mountains to hide.

Once the Jin soldiers left, the rebels came out again.

The gentry in Dingxiang and Wutai counties were robbed back and forth by the Jin soldiers and the rebels.

Many gentry were bankrupt. They felt that the Jin people were not dominant, so they simply contacted the rebels secretly or sent their children to join the rebels. At the same time, they wrote to Zhang Guangdao, saying that they were willing to be the internal response of the Ming army, and only asked the Ming soldiers to rush over to recover the lost land.

This year, after the wheat harvest in Shanxi, the grain tax had not been handed in, Zhang Guangdao quickly sent troops to attack Chitang Pass and Shiling Pass at the same time.

There are two throats leading from Taiyuan to Xinzhou. Yelu Yudu escaped from Chitang Pass. At that time, Chitang Pass was still in the hands of the Ming army. Last year, Wanyan Zonghan's army went south and took Chitang Pass again.

There is no trick to attack the pass, and there is no way to go around the mountains.

Anyway, the army is stationed outside the pass, dragging out the iron cannon every day and bombarding the pass.

Due to the terrain, there are not many places to deploy artillery, and each pass can only use seven or eight cannons at the same time.

Not only did Zhang Guangdao transport the artillery, Zhu Ming also transferred all the musketeers to Shanxi.

Wanyan Zonghan organized the army to go out of the pass many times, trying to destroy or rob the Ming army's artillery. But the hillsides on both sides were full of musketeers, and if they sent people to block the middle, no matter how strong the Jin soldiers were, they couldn't rush in.

"Boom boom boom!"

Wanyan Zonghan was numb to the sound of cannons one after another, because the bombardment lasted for more than 40 days.

These two passes were built during the reign of Zhao Guangyi and reinforced again during the Qingli period. They have not collapsed after being bombarded for more than a month.

Last year, Chitang Pass was taken away by the Jin soldiers because Zhang Guangdao took the initiative to shrink the defense line. Otherwise, if a few thousand more people were stationed and enough food was stored, no matter how powerful the Jin soldiers were, they would be at a loss.

"Mr. Zhang, Kaifeng has transported another 300 barrels of gunpowder, and the iron bullets from Cizhou have also been transported to Shouyang!"

"Very good, continue the bombardment tomorrow."

The main battlefield in Shanxi needs to break through the pass before it can be launched. If any one is broken, the Ming army can march north to Xinzhou in large numbers, and can also send a detachment to kill Dingxiang and Wutai.

Zhang Guangdao was not panicked at all. He had sufficient food and grass, and it was the Ministry of Households that kept shouting that there was not enough food.

Today's bombardment finally ended. Seeing the orderly change of defense by the Ming army, Wanyan Zonghan was anxious.

Wanyan Zonghan could do nothing else except defending the pass.

No matter how elite the Jin cavalry and infantry were, they were useless at this time.

Chitang Pass is located on the plain of the valley, and Shiling Pass is located on a stone ridge in the valley. The mountain road outside the pass has been blocked by the Ming army. Not only are there muskets and artillery, but also a large number of archers are deployed, waiting for the Jin soldiers to come from the narrow valley to die.

Under normal circumstances, the Jin people, as the defenders, have great advantages in this terrain.

But the Ming army has artillery!

"Marshal, there is another crack in the wall." The personal soldiers ran to report the information.

Wanyan Zonghan went to check it out in person. He stopped the basket in the air of the pass wall and stretched out his hand to compare the new crack. This time it was two fingers wide.

The pass built by the Song Dynasty was already very qualified to withstand more than 40 days of bombardment.

What else can you ask for?

Wanyan Zonghan also set up some small and medium-sized Huihui cannons on the city wall and threw stone bombs at the artillery positions of the Ming army.

But the effect was minimal. When the Ming army deployed artillery, they built rammed earth fortifications. So far, only two artillery pieces and more than a dozen gunners have been hit by stones.

"Boom!"

On the fifty-sixth day of the bombardment, with a loud bang, a large area of ​​the east wall of Chitang Pass collapsed.

However, the Ming army's bombardment had not stopped. The frequently used artillery was replaced, and several artillery that had completed maintenance were pulled up.

More to come?

Wanyan Zonghan was completely speechless. You guys should hurry up and attack the city. You didn't attack any place. Do you want to flatten Chitang Pass?

On the fifty-ninth day of the bombardment, there was another loud bang. The gap that was previously collapsed was followed by another section of the wall.

"Continue the bombardment and attack the city tomorrow." Zhang Guangdao finally gave the order.

The next day, a series of parapet walls were pushed out from the Ming army camp, and the siege soldiers hid behind the parapet walls and advanced slowly.

The Ming army's artillery continued to bombard, covering the friendly forces approaching the pass.

Behind the parapet walls were six Linchong Lv Gongche.

Each Lv Gongche has four floors, with six musketeers standing on each floor, who can shoot cold guns at the Jin soldiers at the gap.

More musketeers followed the Xingnu Wall.

The small and medium-sized Huihui cannons on the Guancheng began to throw stones against the Ming army's artillery, hitting the slowly advancing Xingnu Wall.

"Boom!"

A stone hit the Xingnu Wall, and wood chips flew. Three Ming soldiers were killed on the spot, and several others were injured by the splashing wood chips.

The main attacker at the front was of course Wang De's Yaksha Camp.

The Yaksha Camp has been expanded to a thousand people, with Wang De as the main general, and Cao Wu and Xu Qing as deputy generals.

Cao Wu is Wu Jie's subordinate. In history, when the Jin soldiers attacked Heshangyuan, he won a duel in front of the battle and greatly boosted the morale of the Song army.

Xu Qing is Liu Qi's subordinate, and he is also nicknamed "Yaksha" in history.

These three are all fierce warriors of the Western Army, and each of them can play a duel.

The thousand Yaksha camp soldiers were also selected from the best, and they were enough to serve as heavy armor guards for Zhu Ming.

They all wore new lamellar armor. Since they were entering from the gap, they didn't need to free their hands to climb the stairs, so everyone held a shield in their left hand and a hammer in their right hand.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The musketeers in Lu Gong's car were the first to shoot at the gap. Due to the long distance, only a few people were hit.

However, several cannons kept firing at the gap.

One of the shells fell into the Jin soldiers' formation, instantly killing and injuring several people.

As the Xingnu Wall gradually approached, the Jin soldiers on the city also began to shoot arrows, hitting the cowhide on the outer layer of the Xingnu Wall, making a muffled sound of chopping chopping chopping.

After two rounds of arrow rain, with a few whistles, hundreds of Ming army musketeers stood out from behind the Xingnu Wall and shot at the Jin soldiers at the gap dozens of steps away.

"Bang!"

Linchong Lu Gong's car was too tall and was hit by a stone thrown at it. A big hole was smashed in the upper two floors. Although it did not collapse or be destroyed, two musketeers were killed and three were injured.

"Shoot!"

The Ming army archers behind the Xingnu Wall threw crossbows at the gap and the Jin soldiers on the wall after getting closer.

The front rows of Xingnu Wall were getting closer and closer to the Guancheng, and had entered the blind spot of the Huihui cannon.

When they were 20 or 30 steps away, more than 300 musketeers fired freely at the Jin soldiers at the gap.

After a burst of gunfire, Wang De shouted: "Go!"

Taking advantage of the fact that the Jin soldiers defending the gap were thrown into chaos by the muskets, Wang De led the Yaksha Camp to leave the Xingnu Wall and rushed up with more than ten short wooden ladders.

The gap was not flat ground, but a rugged obstacle formed by the collapse of the city wall.

Wang De still charged forward, and when the front row of warriors set up the short ladder, he held up the shield with his left hand to block the long spear, and climbed up quickly with his right hand holding the short ladder. In just a few steps, they rushed to a high ground, pulled out their iron maces and struck out fiercely.

These Jin soldiers were bombarded by artillery first, and then shot by muskets. At this time, they were in a panic. Moreover, the high platform formed by the collapse of the city wall was too rugged and scattered, and it was impossible to line up neatly.

The two deputy generals Cao Wu and Xu Qing also led their troops to rush up.

Three burly and brave men, like three arrows, led their soldiers to penetrate the enemy formation.

In just a few minutes, the Jin soldiers defending the gap began to flee.

Wanyan Zonghan shouted: "Hezhameng'an, go up and fill the gap!"

More than a thousand iron cans wearing heavy armor, holding iron rods, hammers, and maces in their hands, stepped slowly forward to the gap, and calmly took over the battle to fill the position against their own fleeing soldiers.

These are Hezhameng'an who lost his main warhorse last year. Although the spare warhorse can also be used, it is not as convenient as before. Now it is just right to be used as a heavy armored infantry.

The two sides collided quickly. Since they were all blunt attacks, the slight difference in armor could be ignored.

Even in terms of equipment, the Yaksha Camp had an advantage because they had shields in their hands.

The spearmen from both sides also came up and fired their spears in the gaps between the soldiers of the two armies, aiming at the local armored soldiers and stabbing them repeatedly.

At the gap, the battlefield was in chaos.

Many warriors of the Yaksha Camp collided with Hezhamengan, and their bones were broken by blunt weapons. Then they hugged each other and fell to the ground, rolling and hitting each other.

The Wutai Lu Gongche successfully approached the city gate. The musketeers on the top floor were slightly higher than the city wall. They fired cold guns at the city wall that had not collapsed yet, attacking the Jin soldiers who shot arrows at the Ming army in the back row. The musketeers on the third floor from the bottom shot bullets across the battlefield at the gap and shot at the Jin soldiers' reserve troops who had not yet been put into battle.

The gap completely turned into a meat grinder. The most elite soldiers of the Ming and Jin countries were already mixed up and indistinguishable.

In this rugged and broken terrain, since it was impossible to form an effective battle array, they had to rely on their individual martial arts to fight, and they would hug each other while fighting. Some would even lose their weapons and fall down, then take off the opponent's helmet and hit him with their fists, and if they got impatient, they would open their mouths and bite him.