Shang Dongyan stood on the top of the mountain and watched the movement of the fire below. He could know the Song army's attack from the changes in the fire. If the fire dispersed and disappeared, it meant that the Song army dragged the fire away and threw it off the cliff. If there was any
When a new fire is lit, it means that the Song army begins to attack the second pass.
Of course, if the fire remains unchanged, it means that the Song army's attack was unfavorable and was suppressed before the first pass.
Shang Dongyan certainly hopes that such a situation will occur, but he also knows that this situation is unrealistic. With the strength of Chen Qing's army, there may be a slight delay, but it will never be impossible to capture.
Only a quarter of an hour had passed, but the fire still remained motionless, which was a bit beyond his expectation. More than a thousand people attacked, and even if there were two or three hundred casualties, they would definitely be able to charge forward as long as they worked hard.
This is the illustrious Western Army? Even a fire can't break it.
Shang Dongyan felt vaguely that something was wrong, always feeling that something would go wrong.
At this moment, a cry of killing suddenly came from behind him. Shang Dongyan turned back violently and looked to the north in surprise. Why did the cry of killing come from the north? Could it be that the Song army from Yingli County was coming to kill?
Impossible! He also deployed fire pits and a thousand defensive soldiers in the north. Even if the Song army came to kill from the north, they would not rush up the mountain so quickly.
"General!"
A soldier rushed to report, "Song troops are attacking the gate of the village, and the brothers can hardly resist it."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang and a plume of thick smoke rising into the sky. This was the explosion of gunpowder.
Shang Dongyan's scalp exploded and he immediately shouted: "All the soldiers on the top of the mountain go to Beizhaimen to fight!"
In fact, the Beizhai Gate had been lost. The Song Army used gunpowder barrels to blow open the Beizhai Gate. Yang Zaixing led more than a thousand soldiers into the mountain stronghold, followed by a steady stream of Song Army soldiers.
The soldiers of the Xixia Army also came up to fight. The two sides fought fiercely on the top of the mountain, fighting to the death. The soldiers of the Xixia Army were also well-trained and tenacious, and they were on par with the Song Army.
However, most of the troops were deployed on the mountain road, and there were only 2,000 Xixia troops on the top of the mountain. Shang Dongyan ordered all troops to withdraw to the top of the mountain except for 1,000 soldiers left to defend the mountain road in the south.
Two thousand Xixia soldiers retreated up the mountain from the north and south mountain roads respectively, but the one thousand Xixia troops on the north mountain road were blocked. The Song army poured hundreds of barrels of kerosene down, ignited the rolling logs, and turned the entire north mountain road into a sea of fire.
A thousand soldiers on the mountain road to the south rushed to the top of the mountain and joined the fierce battle against the Song army.
The fierce battle on the top of the mountain was very bloody and tragic. Both sides had no way out and could only fight to the death. Yang Zaixing wielded his spear and appeared and disappeared, making it impossible for anyone to stop him. Wherever he went, there were piles of corpses.
Shang Dongyan saw that the opponent's general had great marksmanship and was unstoppable. He quietly took off his bow and arrow, opened the bow and set the arrow, and winked at the soldiers. The two soldiers shot arrows at Yang Zaixing together. Just as the soldier's arrow was shot,
Shang Dongyan's cold arrow also shot out immediately.
Yang Zaixing felt the sound of breaking through the air, and swung out his spear, "Dang! Dang!" and blocked two cold arrows. He retracted his spear and stabbed a Xixia soldier. But at this moment, another cold arrow shot towards him.
The arrow was shot at his neck. The arrow was very tricky. It appeared just when Yang Zaixing's strength had just been withdrawn and he could no longer resist. Yang Zaixing instinctively shrugged his shoulders and blocked the vital part of his neck with his shoulder.
‘Poof!’ The arrow hit his left shoulder. Yang Zaixing felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and the strength in his arm quickly disappeared. When the soldiers saw that the general was injured, they surrounded him one after another, covered the general with shields, and retreated the general.
Yang Zaixing felt numbness in his shoulders and knew that the arrowhead was poisonous. He tore open his clothes, pulled out his dagger and cut off the arrowhead and the surrounding flesh. Blood poured out, and the severe pain made him almost faint.
The two experienced soldiers started working together, cutting the blackened flesh around them one after another.
After cutting it off and disinfecting it with strong alcohol, Yang Zaixing screamed in pain and fainted. When the blood turned red, the two soldiers immediately applied hemostatic and analgesic ointment and bandaged it.
Yang Zaixing woke up again in a blink of an eye and asked: "Is it hurting the muscles and bones?"
The soldier smiled and shook his head, "The muscles and bones are not injured, but the control knife cut it out too hard. I'm afraid we won't be able to fight in a month or two."
Yang Zaixing nodded and looked at the arrow. There was a Chinese character "Shang" on the arrow shaft. He gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Send an order to the entire army. Anyone who kills Shang Dongyan will be promoted to two ranks and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"
There must be brave men under the heavy reward. The military order was passed down and the Song army's offensive was like a wave. At this time, Gao Ding arrived with his army. The number of the Song army increased sharply. The situation of even power was broken and the situation quickly turned to the Song army.
A general rushed to Shang Dongyan and shouted: "General, the reinforcements of the Song Army are coming. Our brothers cannot resist it. If we don't retreat, the entire army will soon be destroyed."
Shang Dongyan bit his lips and bled, feeling extremely painful in his heart. He had finally captured the Geta Village. He thought he could reverse the situation in Xixia, but he didn't expect his hope to be dashed so quickly.
There are also soldiers at the foot of the mountain who have withdrawn. They are all veterans who have followed him for many years. Retreating by yourself is equivalent to putting them to death, but Shang Dongyan also knows that the defeat is decided and it will be too late if he does not withdraw.
Shang Dongyan endured the pain and ordered: "Order the entire army to retreat!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The withdrawal bell of the Xixia army rang. The defensive soldiers at the foot of the mountain ran wildly towards the mountain. The soldiers on the top of the mountain also turned around and fled towards the east path. The Song army chased them and fired arrows.
, the Xixia army suffered countless casualties.
For a moment, the Song army occupied the entire hilltop and turned to attack the Xixia soldiers halfway up the mountain.
At daybreak, the battle was over. Shang Dongyan led more than a thousand people to escape eastward along the trail. The Song army suffered nearly 2,000 casualties at the foot of the mountain and on the top of the mountain. Although the cost was high, they finally recaptured Geta Village.
The battle on the mountainside was over. The Song army refused to accept surrender and killed more than a thousand Xixia soldiers. At this time, a large group of generals surrounded Chen Qing and went up the mountain.
Seeing that Yang Zaixing's face was pale and his shoulders were thickly bandaged with gauze, he asked with concern: "Did you hurt your muscles and bones?"
Yang Zaixing said bitterly: "The muscles and bones are not injured, but the arrow is poisonous and bleeds too much. Damn it, Shang Dongyan shot it!"
Chen Qing nodded, turned around and said to everyone: "This person is indeed a powerful character. If we hadn't discovered the secret passage, it would have cost at least ten thousand people to recapture the Geta stronghold. No one should underestimate the enemy in the future!"
"Follow the order!" All the generals bowed and agreed.
Chen Qing ordered Wang Kai, the commander-in-chief, to lead five thousand soldiers to guard the Cuta Stronghold. A hundred thousand troops passed the Cuta Stronghold and marched toward Mingsha County, fifty miles away.
Chen Qing ordered people to find Gao Ding and told him: "I infer that Shang Dongyan will definitely transfer the troops from Mingsha County to guard the Cuta Village. They should still be halfway there. You can lead 30,000 cavalry in front.
If we encounter enemy troops, we can divide our forces to pursue them. The Xixia army does not have many troops, so we must use every opportunity to annihilate them one by one."
"I humbly obey my orders!"
Gao Ding and Cheng Huan led 30,000 cavalry to advance quickly
Mingsha County is relatively close to Yingli County and Cuta Village, and its strategic position is indeed more important. At this time, guard Li Ke received an order from Shang Dongyan, abandoned Mingsha County, and was leading 10,000 troops to rush to Cuta Village.
en route.
There were still thirty miles away from the Cuta Stronghold, and the defeated soldiers from the Cuta Stronghold began to return one after another. These were the defensive soldiers stationed on the mountainside to the north. They could not return to the stronghold, so when they heard the retreat bell, they went straight down the mountain to the bell.
Shaxian retreats.
Li Ke gathered more than 500 soldiers, and the story gradually became clear. It had only been a day since Shang Dongyan captured the Geta stronghold. The Song army came out from an unknown place again, and succeeded in a counterattack. The two sides fought fiercely for midnight, and the stronghold had been lost. Shang Dongyan
Whereabouts unknown.
Li Ke immediately stopped his advance and sent several spies to Geeta stronghold to inquire about Shang Dongyan's situation to see if he had been killed by the Song army and his head was hung outside the stronghold.
Unexpectedly, the spies came back soon, and they brought news that made Li Ke panic. One hundred thousand Song troops were coming in a mighty manner, and the 30,000 cavalry vanguard was only more than ten miles away from them.
This news frightened Li Ke and he immediately ordered the army to retreat. The leader of the spies rushed forward and shouted: "General, the enemy is cavalry. We can't outrun them. I suggest you retreat to the Yellow River."
Li Ke suddenly realized that the Song army should also be going to Mingsha County, and he must leave the official road immediately.
"Send my order and the whole army will retreat to the Yellow River immediately!"
The 10,000-strong army immediately left the official road and retreated towards the Yellow River. Not long after, Gao Ding led 30,000 cavalry and rushed towards them. A scout came forward to report, "About a quarter of an hour ago, a Xixia army of 10,000 people headed northeast.
Evacuate!”
Sure enough, the coach guessed it. Gao Ding immediately said to Cheng Huan, "General Cheng will lead the army to continue to occupy Mingsha County. I will lead 10,000 cavalry to pursue the enemy!"
"General Gao, please be careful!"
The 30,000-strong army was divided into two groups, and Gao Ding led 10,000 cavalry in pursuit toward the Yellow River.