Chapter 340 0335 [Dangerous stronghold is difficult to attack]
Mantian Village is divided into Damantian and Xiaomantian.
A section of the plank road to the north of Xiaomantian Village, about a few hundred meters long, was demolished by Huang Deyu, the prefect of Lizhou.
After receiving the news from the vanguard, Ju Ming immediately ordered his elite troops to escort two hundred handymen ahead. As close as possible to Mingyue Gorge, he chose a slightly open location and cut down trees to make stacks and planks.
They are all temporary materials and will break down within a few months.
If you want to build a long-term plank road, you must use special wood to dry in the shade and perform some anti-corrosion treatments.
After cutting down many heavenly trees, Deng Chun led 500 elite vine-armed soldiers, Hua Rong led 50 musketeers, and the craftsmen and servants slowly approached.
At the edge of the intact plank road, set up a few wooden boards to extend out.
One end is nailed with a nail, and the other end is extended out to hang in the air. The craftsman ties a rope around his waist, climbs over the plank, and uses a ruler to measure the size of the plank path hole.
After measuring the dimensions, he returned and used a plane to straighten the temporary stack beams.
Then the two people dragged the stack beam out, hung it up with a rope and stuffed it into the stack hole. One person held it while the other person swung the hammer - the outer end of the stack beam had a long triangular notch, and they inserted the triangular wooden block and hammered it inside.
The working principle is similar to expansion bolts.
This work is tiring and extremely dangerous. Fortunately, the stack hole in the cliff is still there.
After fixing the stack beams and nailing the planks, the carpenters (and masons) took turns working, slowly advancing dozens of meters.
When the road was repaired to a section that was slightly recessed into the cliff, a few rocks suddenly flew towards it. But at this angle, it could be attacked by catapults on the opposite mountain.
The two craftsmen were so frightened that they rolled back and crawled back. The temporary beams that had not yet been fixed just fell down with the ropes, hitting the cliff several times and falling into the rolling river water.
Deng Chun held an iron mace in his hand and said to the craftsmen: "If a person dies, he will receive a pension of 30 guan, and his family will be rewarded with three acres of paddy fields. After all the plank roads are built, each person will be rewarded with 10 guan! Duke Yuan Zhang never lies when he speaks.
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The craftsmen looked at each other, discussed internally for a while, and began to draw lots to decide the order of work.
The accuracy of the catapult is very low. In order to ensure the range, the stone bullets are not bigger than the head. Dozens of shells have been thrown and none of them hit, but the momentum is quite scary.
Especially after the stone bullet hits the cliff above, it will fall together with the flying gravel.
Soon some craftsmen were injured, their heads were smashed by flying gravel, and they were dragged back with ropes and bandaged while bleeding.
Lasting from noon to evening, the worst happened.
A stone bullet flew and smashed the carpenter's head directly!
The craftsman who worked with him was so frightened that after being dragged back, he still slumped on the plank road with a look of horror on his face.
Not only were the craftsmen in the front in danger, but the people pulling the ropes in the back were also exposed to the attack of the catapult. Deng Chun took out the giant shield of the long card player and asked them to hold the giant shield for defense, but he didn't know if they could block it.
Even if the giant shield could withstand it, the arm of the person holding the shield would be broken by the impact.
Purely using human lives to pile them up!
The construction speed became slower and slower. Until Ju Ming arrived with the main force, the several hundred meters long plank road was still not completed.
Moreover, the further you go, the more dangerous it becomes, as you enter the bow and arrow range of the officers and soldiers.
The musketeers led by Hua Rong hid behind giant shields and fought back. The accuracy of bird cannons was very high. Both Chinese generals like Qi Jiguang and European generals of the same period said that these guns were more accurate than bows and arrows.
However, the archers of the officers and soldiers were condescending and hiding behind obstacles. Whether they could hit or not was purely a matter of luck.
"How is the situation?" Zhu Ming asked.
Deng Chun replied gloomily: "Thirteen carpenters and stonemasons died, five were seriously injured, and more than a dozen were slightly injured. They were afraid that they would be hit by arrows, so they all wore rattan armor. It was extremely inconvenient to move and the repairs were very slow. Very. The plank road that has been repaired has been constantly attacked by artillery vehicles. Fortunately, only some wooden boards were damaged, and the plank beams were not easily broken."
Ju Ming was silent and then said: "The army has brought meat. Call them back to eat meat."
There is no other way but to cultivate in this way.
Chaotian Gorge is so steep that even the defending officers and soldiers cannot throw stones at the top of the cliff. They can only attack with catapults from a high position on the gentle mountain opposite.
It took another three days to finally build the plank road to a blind spot where catapults could attack, and even archery was out of sight.
The officers and soldiers could only fire at the repaired plank road, smashing some wooden boards one after another, and two plank beams were also smashed and cracked.
"Follow me down and shoot!"
An officer and soldier led more than thirty archers down the mountain to the plank road.
"The craftsmen come back!" Hua Rong ordered quickly.
The soldiers on both sides finally faced each other head-on, with a destroyed plank road separated by forty to fifty meters.
A maximum of two people can stand side by side, and the official archer at the back can only shoot.
On the rebel side, the giant shield was flattened, and the musketeers wearing chain mail and helmets stood at the front and took aim.
While the archers of the officers and soldiers were still advancing, the rebel musketeers took the lead in firing.
"Bang bang!"
With two crisp sounds, an officer and soldier fell.
The musketeers in the second row stood up and fired two more shots. Then they immediately squatted down and the third row stood up and fired again.
"The witchcraft, the thief knows the witchcraft!"
"Run quickly!"
The archers of the officers and soldiers were in great confusion and began to flee without even shooting an arrow.
Because the plank road was too narrow, they pushed each other in panic, and several people were pushed off the cliff.
After another day, the plank road was finally completely repaired, with a total of more than 30 craftsmen killed and injured.
You can reach Lizhou City directly ahead, but there is Xiaomantian Village on the mountain.
If the stronghold is not removed, the officers and soldiers on the mountain can come down at any time to cut off the retreat.
Zhu Ming said to Sun Lan and Xu Ning: "You take three thousand people and continue marching to approach Damantian Village. There is no need to rush to attack to prevent them from going down the mountain and destroying the plank road!"
"yes!"
The two of them took the order and left.
Zhu Ming turned around and looked at Xiaomantian Village, feeling a pain in his head.
The cliff exceeds 70 degrees, and there is a zigzag road up the mountain. No cannons are useful, the angle is too big, and human lives must be used to pile it up.
Zhu Ming was reluctant to lose his elite troops, so he organized a small group of soldiers to feign an attack and consume them first.
For several days in a row, they attacked more than 20 times a day, with only 20 or 30 men invested each time. They retreated when the officers and soldiers threw wood and rocks. Even at night, there was a feint attack with heavy thunder and little rain.
More than 300 miscellaneous soldiers were killed and injured one after another. The defenders finally stopped throwing logs. It was probably that they were almost exhausted.
After a few days, the rolling stones dropped became more and more irregular, had not been polished at all, and were of different sizes. Most of these stones were recently moved, and they were used wherever suitable ones were found all over the mountains and plains.
By this point, before the offensive began, the rebels had already suffered more than 500 casualties.
Ju Ming forced himself to become cold-blooded, and human lives became numbers in his heart.
One general's success will destroy ten thousand bones!
Fortunately, Xu Fuyan stood firm in Xingyuan Prefecture and did not lead his troops to retreat to Lizhou. Otherwise, he would have been stationed at dangerous places along the way. Ju Ming would have had to kill many people to fight all the way to Jianmen Pass.
"Shi Biao!" Zhu Ming shouted.
"Here!" Shi Biao stood up.
Ju Ming ordered: "Take three hundred elite soldiers and go up the mountain at midnight tonight."
"Yes!" Shi Biao accepted the order.
Zhu Ming said again: "Deng Chun!"
"exist!"
"If Shi Biao can go up the mountain, you can follow him with your troops and kill him!"
"yes!"
Before nightfall, Sun Lan and Xu Ning sent people back and brought back a few heads: "General, Damantian Village has been captured!"
"Huh?" Zhu Ming was quite surprised.
The messenger said: "There are hundreds of officers and soldiers in Damantian Village. Before our army could attack, chaos broke out in the village. One of the country soldiers killed the defender Juyi. When General Sun and General Xu heard the commotion, they were afraid of the enemy.
They deliberately deceived and sent only 200 men to try to kill them up the mountain. The officers and soldiers in the stronghold who were fighting among themselves were defeated and surrendered when they saw our troops attacking!"
"Okay, everyone will be rewarded greatly!" Zhu Ming was overjoyed.
Huang Deyu, the governor of Lizhou, originally gathered a large number of troops to defend the Big and Small Mantian Villages.
But the farmers in Zhaohua County rebelled, and he had to lead his troops back to annihilate them. He left 800 soldiers in each village to garrison them.
In his opinion, the damaged plank road alone would be enough for Zhu Ming to repair in a month.
The terrain of the Big and Small Mantian Villages is steep, and they are strong enough to hold on until he brings his troops back.
Moreover, he concentrated his elite soldiers in Xiaomantian Village, and the Damantian Village further behind was mainly composed of rural soldiers.
Unexpectedly, the village soldiers in Damantian Village were resentful. When the rebels approached, they actually rebelled and started internal strife.
Ju Ming immediately changed his strategy and asked someone to carry his head up the mountain to persuade him to surrender.
A soldier held up a bamboo pole with several heads hanging on it and began to climb the mountain cautiously.
When the guard in Xiaomantian Village saw only one person coming, he ordered not to shoot arrows or throw stones.
The soldiers climbed up panting, and the guard's face suddenly changed. He had already recognized whose heads those were - Damantian Stronghold had been lost, and his place had become an isolated stronghold, and there was absolutely no way he could wait for reinforcements.
"My general said that if you surrender, you will avoid death," the soldier said, "If you don't surrender, the village will be slaughtered!"
The fact that the guard general was willing to let this miscellaneous soldier go up the mountain showed that he was not resolute.
The main reason is that the plank road has been repaired, and the unknown weapons (firearms) frightened him. Moreover, the continuous attack on the mountain for many days has consumed a lot of rolling wood and falling rocks. The defenders in the village have long been shaken, and sooner or later something will change if they continue to defend.
At this moment, he looked at the soldiers around him and saw that every one of them was in panic. The guard pretended to throw away his weapons and said: "Oh, there is no way to save the day. Follow me down the mountain and ask for surrender."
Zhu Ming was waiting at the foot of the mountain. When he saw the officers and soldiers walking down the mountain road, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He is not afraid of fighting tough battles, but this is not a method of fighting that only consumes human lives.
The guard knelt down on the ground and said: "The commander of the Lizhou Xiang Army, Huang Mengqing, does not know the majesty of the general and acts like a chariot with his arms. He deserves death!"
Ju Ming listened to his words and asked: "Have you read the book?"
Huang Mengqing replied: "I took the Wu Jinshi exam, but I didn't write the article well, so I didn't pass the exam. I was just a Wu Jinshi candidate."
"No wonder you have deployed calmly and defended well. Come and get up." Ju Ming decided to accept this person. He might be a general.
As for the hundreds of soldiers who were killed or wounded, Huang Mengqing cannot be blamed for the blindness of his swords on the battlefield.
Only the kind of guy who kills prisoners or kills good people for the sake of merit, Ju Ming will never forgive!
Leaving hundreds of soldiers to guard the Big and Small Mantian Villages, Ju Ming led his troops and continued southward, passing through the plank road area and quickly approaching Lizhou City.