The peasant army had already seen the firearms under the command of the Living King of Hell. How could it be said that they were unprepared? At the beginning, Zhang Damou ordered all troops to be careful and retreat immediately if they were covered by fire.
Zhang Damou is not a fool. The new artillery in the hands of the Living Hell King is simply a life-threatening knife. Attacking with such artillery fire is tantamount to seeking death. However, after repeated battles, no officers and soldiers were seen firing, even if the Tianpo Highlands were attacked.
Not a single shell fell on the high slope. Because of this, Zhang Damou made a wrong judgment. He thought that due to the heavy weight of the artillery, the officers and soldiers had not been able to transport it across the river. Without the threat of artillery, there was no need to worry, so why not
The army pressed on the territory and drove the living King of Hell directly back into the river.
At the last moment, when the final blow was about to be launched, a terrifying roar erupted in the crowd. In order to capture the ferry terminal in one fell swoop, Zhang Damou scattered almost half of his troops.
For several miles around the southern pier of Maojin Ferry, almost all were peasant troops, and they were so densely packed that it made people's hearts tremble. At this time, when the artillery shells fell, there was almost no need to aim, and there was bound to be a harvest.
There was a roar, and the heart trembled again and again. Yuan Ma's eyes were red, as if they were bloodshot, but this time it was not because of bloodthirsty and ferociousness, but because of fear. Standing on the high slope, looking around, there was dust and smoke, and flesh and blood everywhere.
Flying, screams, curses, and cries came one after another. The soft soil was lifted up, leaving large pits. Many pits became ready-made graves, and people were buried directly.
A cannonball exploded a few feet away, causing mud to fly and air waves to hit his face with the smell of blood. His hair was rolled up. His face was a little wet. Yuan Ma touched his cheek, and then he was stunned. His hands were all bright red.
The minced meat is like beating insect eggs.
Under such artillery fire, people are so fragile, no matter how powerful the warrior is, they are just ants. Yuan Ma was stunned, but Xu Bin, his deputy beside him, was already panicking, "Brother Yuan...No way.
, withdraw, withdraw..."
"Withdraw..." Yuan Ma couldn't help but tremble. The scene in front of him reminded him of the bloody battle under Mizhi City back then. At that time, the Living King of Hell was just a young general in the frontier army.
As a defender, at that time, no one thought that the Living King of Hell could do anything. However, the Living King of Hell took the lead and beat him hard in an unfavorable situation, causing Yuan Ma to run away with his head in his arms.
The Living King of Hell is usually tepid, but when he is really desperate, he is more ruthless than Yuan Ma. He actually hid the artillery until now, instead of using it before, just to lead the army to the narrow south bank for a decisive battle.
Didn't it mean that the shore was not suitable for artillery positions? Why did the Living Hell's artillery keep firing? With a bang, another artillery shell exploded not far away, and several peasant soldiers lay on the ground wailing. Listening to that
Yuan Ma's painful cry made Yuan Ma's heart burst. Withdraw, retreat quickly, and keep fighting. The thousands of brothers he had managed to gather under his command would all be gone.
Yuan Ma withdrew, and Zhang Yichuan, Wei Yang, and Du Wen also withdrew. There was no way, the casualties were too great. But when they returned to Tianpo Highlands, Yuan Ma and others were scolded by Zhang Damou. At this time, Zhang Damou
It was also very painful, but I was still very angry at the behavior of my generals who retreated privately, "Withdraw? Why should we withdraw without the general's order?"
Yuan Ma swallowed his saliva and said in a low voice: "That kind of artillery is so terrifying... Brothers suffered too many casualties..."
Before Yuan Ma finished speaking, Zhang Damou frowned and stared at everyone with a cold face, "Too many casualties? Then we can withdraw? Now the soldiers and horses of the Living King of Hell are trapped near the dock, and they only need a final blow.
We can drive them back to the north bank. So what if there are too many casualties? If we retreat at this time, wouldn’t our previous brothers have died and been injured in vain?”
Zhang Dayou's words were like an enlightenment, which woke up Yuan Ma and others. Yes, when the battle reaches this point, it is just the last shudder. No matter how difficult it is, we have to hold on. Likewise, this is the living king of hell.
It's the last chance to stay on the south bank, and the resistance will definitely be the fiercest. After figuring out the joints, Zhang Yichuan said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Leader Zhang. Wait for a while, and my little brother will lead people to rush forward immediately."
"Well..." Zhang Damou finally had a good look on his face, nodded, and waved his hand impatiently, "Brothers, everyone must know how difficult the Living King of Hell is. If we let him chase us
If we don’t let go, we will definitely be the unlucky ones in the end. Since we now have the opportunity to block him back, we must seize it. For the sake of your future and future, work hard!”
Yuan Ma and others raised their heads with a heavy heart, their eyes full of determination. At this moment, they had no intention of retreating and drove the Living King of Hell back, not for others, but for themselves.
Under Zhang Damou's strict order, after only half an hour's rest, the peasant army regrouped again and rushed towards the dock position in a loose formation. This time, they were obviously on guard, and the formation spread out. Although the artillery was separated at a distance,
The sound echoed throughout the battlefield again, but the casualties were much smaller.
On the high platform, Tie Mo held a telescope and looked at the battle situation in the distance. Gradually, his mood became heavy. Sure enough, the battlefield is the best teacher. After only a few contacts, the peasant army has already initially mastered this.
How to deal with gunfire coverage.
The formation is loose and spread far apart, and the attack power is bound to be affected. However, the thieves can withstand the waves of attacks, but they can't afford it. Is it possible for me to trust someone to travel across the Northland for the first time?
If you cross the Yellow River, will you be driven back in despair?
Although he was unwilling to give in, Tie Mo was actually mentally prepared for this. No matter how embarrassed he was, it was better than suffering too many casualties. He couldn't compare with Zhang Damou and the others. The most important thing the peasant army lacked was soldiers, sweeping the place.
, creating refugees, he can quickly recruit hundreds of thousands of troops. But the soldiers and horses under his command have been strictly trained and are piled up with real money.
"Hey, it seems that the south bank ferry cannot be defended. Dingshan, please inform the troops on the shore to prepare to take the army back. In addition, tell your wife to collect as much baggage as possible and prepare to go south to the Yellow River from the east!"
Tie Mo was ready to retreat, while Zhang Damou on the other side was feeling much better. Under the ebb and flow of the situation, the peasant army's offensive became more and more fierce. If He Jingyuan hadn't been ruthless and poured down the artillery shells, it's hard to say whether he could have persisted.
to the next day.
As evening fell, with lingering flames in the sky, both sides chose to stop fighting with a tacit understanding. Until now, neither side could hold on any longer and continued to stop and take a breath. The reason for this was that Zhang Dayou pressed all the troops and horses.
The disadvantage is that if you leave enough reserves, you can continue to attack without interruption. However, if you don't rely on your strength to put pressure on the opponent, you may not be able to suppress the elite divisions under the command of the King of Hell.
At night, insects chirped, and surging rivers flowed in front of them. The ancient long river roared silently under the starry sky. Tie Mo was not sleepy at all, because he didn't know whether tomorrow's retreat would go smoothly, and he wanted to steal from the peasant army.
I'm afraid it's impossible to return to the North Shore without paying some price.
The stars and rivers were densely packed and the sky was heavy. My feet suddenly felt weak and I almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, my body was flexible and I turned to the side to stabilize my body. The Yellow River embankment has been in disrepair for a long time. If it encounters a year with abundant water, I am afraid it will collapse.
The embankment burst. I scratched my head and could only smile bitterly. Thinking about it this way, it is a good thing that there have been droughts for many years. At least the Yellow River has not had any floods recently.
I walked through a low reed field, and occasionally patrols passed by. I was a little far away from the command post, and I was about to go back, but I found a figure on the edge of the river embankment. The man was bent over, seeming to be observing the river water under his feet.
.Getting closer and seeing the figure clearly, Tie Mo couldn't help but be stunned. He really didn't expect to meet Dai Qimeng here.
It turned out to be her! Tie Mo was very puzzled. What was Dai Qimeng doing here in the middle of the night? The heavy footsteps alarmed Dai Qimeng. She trembled slightly and turned around warily. After seeing the person clearly, she patted her gently.
He patted his heart. The moonlight was weak, and Su held his chest with his hands, but it was full of temptation. For a moment, Tie Mo was stunned and a little crazy. But he regained his clarity in an instant and coughed twice awkwardly.
"Ms. Dai, it's getting late, why are you staying here? I just saw you staring at the river non-stop, but what are your thoughts?"
Dai Qimeng bowed slightly, stepped back, put her slender hands on her waist, and said with a faint smile: "The fighting has been brutal in the past two days. The slave family has never experienced anything like this. It's really hard to adapt. I can't sleep, so I just do whatever I want.
Take a walk.”
"Oh?" Tie Mo clasped his hands behind his back and came to where Dai Qimeng was standing. He knelt down and took a look. He saw that the river here was a little faster, but he didn't find anything special. "Miss Dai's hobbies are quite interesting.
I spent most of the night staring at the river."
Tie Mo joked a few words, but Dai Qimeng knew that there was no malice, so naturally he would not be angry, "It's a joke for the supervisor. I was just thinking about one thing just now. Supervisor, take a closer look, is there anything different here?"
Seeing Dai Qimeng's seriousness, Tie Mo couldn't help but observe carefully. Through the moonlight, the general outline of the nearby terrain was revealed in front of his eyes. After thinking about it, he replied: "The terrain here is high and the water flow is very fast."
"Yes, has the Superintendent ever thought about what would happen if the water here was diverted to the south?" Dai Qimeng's voice was very soft, but when these words fell into Tie Mo's ears, they caused a storm.
Once the water from the Yellow River is diverted from the higher areas, the river water will flow backwards and the nearby lower areas will inevitably be submerged. The first to bear the brunt will be the peasant army in the south.
"This...do you have a way to divert the Yellow River from here?" Tie Mo looked at Dai Qimeng with a complicated expression. The moonlight was dim, and he couldn't see the expression on the other person's face. He only heard her whisper:
"The slave family is not that good at diverting the river water. However, the slave family has learned some water diversion methods from my father since childhood. It should not be a problem to temporarily divert the water from high places. If the water pours back, it should be able to withstand it for a while.
..."
"But if we do this, the bandits will retreat, but will the people around Xiaozhou be okay?"
Dai Qimeng was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment before replying: "When the Superintendent ordered Geng Zhongming to burn the bandits, he didn't have such mercy..."
"That's because there is no need to hurt innocent people. Miss Dai, let's not mention the diversion of water again. Even if Tie Mo returns to the north bank and finds another place to cross the river, it will not flood the south bank and end up in ruins in Xiaozhou." Tie Mo
He took a deep look at Dai Qimeng and nodded meaningfully, "Miss Dai, don't forget, we are the forces of justice. We cannot act like bandits. If it is not necessary, it is better not to cause too many fearless casualties.
.”
...
While the fighting was going on on the south bank of Maojin Ferry, a fierce debate was also going on at Hangu Pass.
After learning about the predicament faced by the Xuanfu army, and after careful consideration, Henan Commander-in-Chief Ding Luyan made a bold decision. He proposed to divide his troops to sneak attack on the rear of the bandits to relieve the Xuanfu army's predicament. However, this proposal was rejected.
Most generals opposed it.
General Cao E was even more anxious and said: "Commander Ding, this must not happen. After the previous battle, we only had more than 6,000 soldiers guarding Hangu Pass. It is not enough to secure Hangu Pass. Where can we get the extra troops?"
To save the troops of Xuan Mansion, Luoyang needs to concentrate its forces to deal with Gao Yingxiang's troops. Even if a thousand soldiers and horses cannot separate them, we must not take the risk of leaving the border."
Guerrilla general Luo Heng also advised: "Yes, I heard that the frontier troops under the Iron Governor are good at fighting and rarely lose. Although the bandits occupy Mianchi, they may not be able to gain any advantage in front of the Xuanfu army."
Ding Luyan raised his hand to stop everyone from continuing to talk. In fact, he also understood what most people were thinking. As long as they guard Hangu Pass, there would be nothing wrong. But once the troops are divided, it means taking risks. This kind of thing is risky.
How many people are willing to do it? The fighting situation at the south bank of Maojin Ferry is not a secret, and these people know it in their hearts, but they still pretend not to know. In the final analysis, it involves their own interests, so they can't care about other people.
Ding Luyan also had his own considerations and selfish motives, but he saw further than these people, "Everyone, please listen to what Ding said. Most of the iron governor's subordinates are northern cavalry. There are no cavalry in the Maojindu area."
If we don't open it, if we don't help, the Iron Governor will probably be forced to retreat to the north bank."
"Don't you know what is going on right now? The rogue bandit Gao Yingxiang has led hundreds of thousands of troops and has already passed Fangzhou. In order to save Ruzhou, the commander has no time to care about anything else and cannot even take care of our Hangu Pass. What about us?
It seems safe at the moment, but in fact it will soon be in dire straits.”
"The main force of the rogue bandit king has bypassed the southern part of Weizhou. Do you think they will really attack Luoyang? Have you ever thought about what would happen if the bandits did not attack Luoyang and instead attacked Hangu Pass from the south?
?”
"At that time, our Hangu Pass will be cut off from the north to the south, and the supplies in the city will only be enough for half a month. This means that the rogue bandits will not need to fight at that time. They only need to trap us for a month. Hangu Pass will be destroyed without attack. Hangu Pass fell.
, if Xiaozhou is not protected, you can’t imagine what will happen then, right?”
As Ding Luyan spoke eloquently, everyone gradually fell into silence. Once Hangu Pass is breached, the world will be shocked. By then, no one guarding Hangu Pass will be able to escape, and they will all be held accountable. It is not a bad thing to die in battle.
, if he is alive, not only will he be killed, but his family will also be brought into trouble.
This majestic pass in the world is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Defending Hangu Pass is very simple, but similarly, not everyone can bear the responsibility of losing Hangu Pass.