Asking for a fight

Author: Huang Huoqing

Asking for a fight

Four hundred meters away from the foot of Hongduo Mountain, a large banner with the Chinese character "Hong" penetrates into the earth.

Under the flag, Hong Jian, Hong Sheng, Li Shenji, Chi Liangbi, and Cui Jiashu were looking at the cottage.

“The poplar tree’s root system is extremely deep, and there must be water below the place where it grows.”

The second master of the Cui family rubbed the iron ring on his finger and said.

"The man surnamed Wu said that there is a large underground river under the Hongduoshan cave. It seems that what he said is true."

"Since there is no shortage of water when flying on the sea, we may not be able to consume more than them when we come all the way."

He frowned and watched as the bandits drove the sheep and horses up the mountain road and into the cave.

Hongduo Mountain is only a hundred feet high. Compared with the continuous mountains in Liangzhou, it is just a small stone ridge.

But Wan Guangji chose this place not just for the water source.

"As Wu Guangzhi said, the road up the mountain is divided into three sections, roughly in the shape of a '博'."

Li Shenji raised his eyes and looked into the distance and said.

"These three sections are like three levels. Each level is easy to defend but difficult to attack."

"In my opinion, the more aggressive this battle is, the easier it will be to fight; if it drags out into a see-saw, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties!"

As he said, Hong Fan, who was standing nearby, raised his eyes and could vaguely see the bandits' fortifications.

The horizontal line below the character "博" is about one hundred and dozens of meters long. Sand bandits are coming and going on the road, and more than ten levels of horse barriers have been set up.

The vertical character "匚" represents a dangerous path sandwiched by cliffs. It is only three to four meters wide, with an average drop of twenty to thirty meters between the rock platforms on both sides. It is also surrounded by a parapet made of stones.

The horizontal line above the word "匚" leading to the entrance of the cave is relatively good, but the attacker who ascends first will inevitably be surrounded and suppressed from three sides, making it difficult to gain a foothold.

After taking an overview of the overall situation, Hong Fan's mind was filled with the words "One man is in charge of the barrier, and ten thousand men are not allowed to open it".

He glanced left and right, and everyone around him had a troubled look on his face.

But the arrow is on the string and must be fired.

After a while of tea, the forty Guantongjing and the five hundred soldiers were all wearing armor and fully armed.

At the top of Hongduo Mountain, a large flag with the word "Wan" on a black background was erected, and hundreds of archers stood behind the stone wall, facing off from a distance with the team down the mountain.

Following Hong Jian's order, Hong Sheng walked to the foot of the mountain and stood there, shouting to the bandits to persuade them to surrender.

The sound shattered on the mountaintop, but there was no response.

A moment later, He Liangjun leaned out from the cliff more than 100 meters high, raised his hand and shot an arrow, but Hong Sheng smashed it with his bare hands.

At this point, both sides have nothing to say.

"According to the scouts' observations and Wu Guangzhi's intelligence, Hongduo Mountain is steep on all sides. There is only one way up the mountain, and there is no secret passage."

Hong Jian is holding a long sword in his hand.

"There are dozens of feet of cliffs, and there are archers waiting in full formation, but even the warriors can't get up."

"There are three passes in mountain climbing. We have to attack them one by one with hard bridges and hard horses. There is no other way."

As he spoke, he looked around at everyone, as if waiting for someone to take the initiative.

As expected, Chi Liangbi took the initiative.

"Brother, to the west of Liangzhou, everyone knows that Jin Hai is brave enough to ride in iron clothes and is fearless in battle."

He raised his hands and asked.

"In this battle, my Chi family is willing to lead the first line!"

Hong Jian waited in silence for a moment, but when no one spoke, he issued a military order.

Not long after, ten brave knights led their own team of a hundred people and lined up in front of the battle array.

Chi Liangbi put on heavy armor weighing more than fifty kilograms and led the way with a steel axe.

"You must be the first to ascend in battle. Mr. Chi Wu is indeed brave!"

Hong Bo praised in Zhu Yi's cavalry formation.

But Hong Lie crossed his arms and disagreed: "There is courage, but not necessarily courage."

Several people were puzzled, but Hong Fan nodded in agreement.

"How to say?"

Hong Bo asked.

Not only him, Hong She, Shen Hong and others were also confused.

"Generally speaking, the first battle involves the sharpest enemy and the greatest danger; this is also the reason why other companies hesitate."

Hong Fan and Hong Lie looked at each other and explained.

"But this battle is different."

"Although the first section of the road is long and narrow and densely covered with horse-blocking roadblocks, the distance from the foot of the mountain is too small; it is unlikely that Hainan Air Force will deploy heavy troops here..."

Hong Bo has rich experience and can react immediately after hearing a sentence.

"Yes, the highest point of this section of the road is only three to four feet. With my strong feet, it is not difficult to go up even if I am wearing heavy armor."

"If the sand bandits send a hundred or ten people in an attempt to take advantage of the sluggishness of the horse, the master only needs to have a few Hunran lead the two teams to penetrate from the side and cross them, so that they can cut off their return and turn the stalemate into annihilation."

He punched his palm and looked at Hong Fan with surprise - the latter was only experiencing actual combat for the third time, so how could he be so sharp?

"I don't know much about battle formations."

Hong Fan saw what he was thinking and explained with a smile.

"But Mr. Chi Wu's performance just now allowed me to guess a little bit of his intentions, so I can deduce the reason."

"The Chi family will clear up the resistance later, and when they reach the second level with a slight loss of manpower, they should be able to withdraw."

"With multiple coalition forces, there must be a balance on the surface."

"Since the Chi family withstood the first round, and then came to the more difficult second and third stages, it will be difficult for the family master to use them forcefully."

The logic of his words was rigorous and well-deduced, but even Hong Lie was a little surprised.

Hong Fan was born in two different lives, and the social forms he lived in were very different, but his people's hearts were the same.

For every powerful force in the coalition, the first goal is not to win, but to preserve their own strength as much as possible.

On the other side, more than a hundred soldiers went up the mountain road and began to withstand the baptism of arrows.

Chi Liangbi, who had five meridians, held an ax in both hands, ignored the arrow clusters hanging on his armor, and strode forward with his face lowered.

Ten brave knights lined up in two rows, using their bodies as shields, following closely behind.

The two-foot-wide gravel road, whether it was a horse or a fence, was easily shattered by the warrior wielding heavy weapons.

Things developed as expected.

The two groups of bandit archers at the end of the mountain road retreated to higher ground after firing a few rounds at random.

No battle took place, and the arrows fired from high places became embellishments of the engineers' work.

One hundred soldiers of the Chi family used large shields to cover the ground. They used the sand they carried to fill the pit and cleared away the remaining wooden fences.

With such steady advancement, most of the way forward was cleared in a short time, with only five or six casualties.

But He Liangjun's whistle changed the situation.

On the top of the cliff more than 100 meters high, the archers carried their starting bows, took materials from the parapet on the spot, and threw stones the size of human heads with all their strength.

Along the steep mountain wall, the gravel bounces down and you reach the bottom of the mountain in just a breath.

"Throw stones from above, be careful!"

Chi Liangbi raised his head following the sound, shouted a warning, took a few steps forward and punched hard.

Thunder exploded on the mountain road.

The rocks smashed down at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per hour were shattered by the impact, and his fist armor cracked.

It's a pity that this kind of ability is only rare in the Chi family.

Three meters away, a brave knight had no time to dodge and used his arm shield to catch the falling rock. The shield shattered and his arm was broken.

More movement came from behind.

Chi Liangbi looked back and saw only the soldiers in the formation screaming in agony and several fountains of blood welling up.

A round of more than twenty rolling stones hit one out of three or four, adding six casualties.

The sand bandits on the top of the cliff continued to move.

Chi Wuye saw dozens of eyes focused on him.

"You are not allowed to look up!"

With a roar, he ignored the rocks that hit his helmet and glanced at the crowd with blood-soaked eyes.

"Put up your shield and move forward!"

Chi Liangbi strode up the mountain.

Centuries followed the recovery movement.

After a while, all the roadblocks on the mountain road were cleared.

Then Chi Liangbi led a few brave riders to the second level and made a tentative charge, but was immediately pushed back by the powerful arrows with a density far greater than before.

At this point, he finally felt that the weight was enough, so he led the remaining 80 or so people back, bringing back the wounded and bodies that had been left behind.

PS: Let’s count the votes, brothers~~~
Chapter completed!