After a while, Hai Lanzhu frowned and said, "Should we build a pontoon bridge, otherwise it would be really difficult to get through."
"Building a pontoon bridge is certainly good, but wood is a problem. If you want to get wood, you have to cut down trees in the forest, which makes a lot of noise." Tie Mo looked at the distance with worry. In fact, he had also thought about this idea. Building a pontoon bridge was a problem.
The most effective method. But it requires a lot of time. If the bandits react quickly enough, they can completely defend themselves in advance.
At this time, Zhou Dingshan, who was standing next to him, frowned and said, "If it's fast enough, it's possible. If you cut down a lot of wood in the forest, you won't be able to hide it from the bandits. But we don't need to hide it from them. We just need to prepare the wood first. We don't have to hide it from them."
When setting out to build a pontoon bridge, even if the rogue bandits are on guard, they don’t know where to start. After the rogue bandits relax their defense, we can cross the river at night and pull up the rope first, and then it will be much easier to build the pontoon bridge. As long as we cooperate properly, we can build the pontoon bridge in an hour.
There will be no big problem in completing the pontoon within 10 minutes.”
Zhou Dingshan knew that this battle could not drag on for too long. It took too long and gave the bandits enough breathing space. This was not a good thing for the entire war. Tie Mo obviously took this into consideration, so he nodded gently, "
Just do as you say, but how to build the pontoon bridge, make plans in advance, and don’t make too many mistakes. Now that you have done this, don’t give the bandits a chance to stand up."
Elizabeth's eyes were full of doubts. She really couldn't understand the mystery. With an army of more than 100,000 people, it could be said that victory was guaranteed. Slowly pushing forward, the war was won. Why did they take the initiative to open the Yanshui River Battle?
No matter how I look at it, I feel that Tie Mo is looking for trouble. Wouldn't it be better to fight steadily with a hundred thousand troops? Thirty thousand troops gathered on the Yanshui River, including 20,000 cavalry. Even if a pontoon bridge was built, it would be impossible for the war horses to be transported to the other side.
In other words, if a battlefield is opened on the other side, the 20,000 cavalry are equivalent to nothing. Without the benefit of cavalry, the rogue bandits may not have any strength disadvantage in a short period of time. If they are dispatched properly, they may even have a strength advantage.
.
The truth is so simple, why does Tie Mo still insist on doing this? Elizabeth has a straightforward temperament and does not have many worries of oriental women. She blinked her big eyes and whispered, "Why fight in Yanshui River? Once the rogue bandits make a desperate move, they must gather their troops."
The horses will probably form a strength advantage on the other side. If the horses cannot cross the river, they will lose their strength advantage and be looking for trouble. Moreover, if we cross the river, our artillery will not be able to keep up and will not be able to provide fire support."
Elizabeth consciously said what she said made sense, at least in her perception, it should be like this. Tie Mo smiled faintly, his deep eyes full of wisdom, and pointed at the turbulent river, "Elizabeth, you know why I
Will I take you to observe the battlefield along the way? Because if you don’t see it with your own eyes, you will never know what war is. War is not simply about the number of troops, but also about strategy. Sometimes there is no need to care about the gains and losses of a city or a place, just
You just need to grasp the root cause. In northern Shaanxi today, what is really worth holding on to is not Yichuan City, but Ansai City. Therefore, opening the Yanshui River Battle can force the rogue bandits to come out and fight a big war, avoiding the
Attack the fortified city. Haha, do you think that crossing the river at this time, without the advantage of troops, will give the rogue bandits a chance? But have you ever thought that if you don't give the rogue bandits a chance, they will pull out their soldiers to fight us? Haha.
, the superiority of troops, wouldn’t it be impossible to win the battle without the superiority of troops? If the cavalry is dismounted, will it lose its combat effectiveness? Elizabeth, watch carefully, I will tell you what a strong army is.”
Tie Mo's words were quite profound, and Elizabeth half-understood them, but she still understood the rest of the words clearly. Although Tie Mo was a little arrogant, she had to admit that his confidence was full of charm, and his tone was not
High-spirited, but with heroic heroic spirit, he stood by the river, stopped and looked, as if the world was in the palm of his hand. Thirty thousand people are enough, thirty thousand elite soldiers can defeat everything. He knew that there were tigers in the mountains, so he went to the Tiger Mountains, saying
Is it him?
Zhang Cunmeng was always in a bad mood at Ansai City County Government. After the officers and soldiers were stationed on the other side, they stopped and made no next move. There was no news from the stone bridge. The officers and soldiers didn't even bother to try a feint attack. Zhang Cunmeng was a little confused for a while.
Don't the officers and soldiers want to cross the river?
Just when Zhang Cunmeng had doubts, the spies from the front finally sent back the news, "Leader Zhang, officers and soldiers have recently entered the woods and cut down a lot of wood. I'm afraid they will take the next step."
Cutting down trees? Do you want to build a simple boat plank and forcibly cross the Yanshui River? As soon as this idea came up, he could no longer suppress it. Zhang Cunmeng felt that he was insulted. The officers and soldiers regarded the rebel soldiers as decorations. They really thought it was casual.
Can you cross the river?
More than a dozen leaders got together to make plans, and finally decided to strengthen shore patrols. As long as the officers and soldiers crossed the river, they would deal a heavy blow. At the same time, Zhang Cunmeng seized the time to send some troops to rescue the Yanshui River. Zhang Cunmeng's intention was very obvious, which was to attack the Yanshui River.
A battle was fought in Shuihe River. Yichuan City has thick walls and is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but the key is that Yanshui River is more important. If this river is not defended, Ansai City will fall, and the morale of the entire northern Shaanxi rebel army will collapse and they will lose the ability to resist.
Heart and confidence collapsed, no matter how easy it is to defend and difficult to attack Yichuan City, an undefended city is just a bare city. This is probably why the officers and soldiers dared to bypass Yichuan City and launch the Battle of Yanshui River.
In Yichuan City, Zhang Xianzhong said nothing when he saw the letter sent by Wang Ziyong. In fact, he could also feel the helplessness in Wang Ziyong's heart. After all, the initiative on the battlefield has been firmly grasped by the officers and soldiers, and they will defend it to the end.
Yichuan City is just dying slowly. Relying on the Yanshui River to fight, there is still some hope. Alas, once upon a time, the leader of the 36th Route of the Northern Shaanxi Rebel Army was so majestic, but now he is forced to be in such embarrassment
situation.
In the battle of Yanshui River, Yichuan City needed to send troops to cooperate with the rebels in Ansai City, and they had to listen to Zhang Cunmeng's dispatch. This made Zhang Xianzhong very uncomfortable, but at the moment, Zhang Xianzhong could only endure the situation. Faced with the fierce oncoming force
The living King of Hell, both parties can only temporarily put aside their prejudices.
It is said that Ma Ji's life was very difficult. Not long after he led two thousand cavalry in an arrogant manner, a group of pursuers appeared from behind. His purpose of leaving the city was to hold off the officers and soldiers' cavalry as much as possible, but Ma Ji did not
Thinking that this delay actually held back more than ten thousand cavalry, and many infantry retreated to intercept.
With tens of thousands of cavalry, the officers and soldiers were really generous. Facing the encirclement and pursuit of so many cavalry, Ma Ji felt like crying. It was the first time he encountered such a domineering opponent. Of course, he had to lament that the officers and soldiers were rich in capital. With just a wave of his hand, tens of thousands of cavalrymen were killed.
When the cavalry pursues and kills, it is not even considered killing a chicken with a bull's sword, it is simply killing a chicken with a dragon's sword.
After finally finding a place to take a breath, half an hour passed before the deputy general ran over and said, "Brother Ma, the officers and soldiers are rushing forward again. There are still many infantrymen waiting in formation in the north. Where should we run now? Whoosh...
Many brothers can hardly hold on any longer."
Ever since I attacked several food protection teams, I have never had a peaceful life. There are always soldiers chasing behind me. Some soldiers are so tired that their intestines are about to come out. The horses are exhausted along the way. If they hadn't been robbed,
There were many horses, and I don’t know how many were left behind at this moment. Ma Ji’s old eyes were cloudy, his head was buzzing, and he caught up again. Damn it, why do I always feel that the officers and soldiers are playing tricks on me? They can obviously encircle them.
, but they didn't encircle them, they just followed behind and held on. He was angry, but Ma Ji still had to find a way to continue escaping. Looking at the north, he got on his horse and said, "Go to Mengmen Mountain, enter the canyon, and when you get there,
, everyone gave up their horses and scattered to escape."
The only thing Ma Ji could think of was the Mengmen Mountain Canyon. There was no use going anywhere else. The terrain in the canyon was complicated and the cavalry was useless. Ma Ji took the lead, and the remaining more than 1,300 remnants headed north.
Go, Ma Ji is also a ruthless person. When he saw that there was little hope of escape, he went directly into the canyon. He felt that at this point, he could delay as long as he could.
What makes Ma Ji depressed is that the officers and soldiers behind him are still chasing after them, and they rush into the Grand Canyon without hesitation. Looking at the dark group of people behind him, Ma Ji wants to curse, because they don't worry about traps, so they don't worry about traps.
Worrying is a ploy to divert the tiger away from the mountain?
It can be said that Ma Ji's men and horses are facing a dead end. Under heavy encirclement and suppression, even if they rush into Mengmen Mountain, there is not much hope. The terrain of the canyon is complex and difficult to encircle and suppress. The key is that the mountains are bare, so there is no need to fight. Just surround them.
In four or five days, some people probably starved to death. In fact, the officers and soldiers did the same. The cavalry approached and threatened, and later tens of thousands of infantry were stationed on the other side. The entire Mengmen Mountain Canyon was blocked. Ma Ji's people were
It's hard to fly with wings.
In the city of Yichuan, Zhang Xianzhong was devastated. Ma Ji's fate could be predicted. It would be a lie to say he was not sad. But Zhang Xianzhong had no choice. Without sacrificing more than two thousand cavalry, he could not mobilize the officers and soldiers. From now on
Judging from the situation, Ma Ji has successfully completed the task.
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-May of the fifth year of Chongzhen, and Yichuan City still had not changed much. The biggest change was that there were two more tall hills on the north and south sides of Yichuan City, and officers and soldiers began to follow the hills.
The height of the city and the deployment of siege equipment, especially new artillery, also heralded the end of the stable days of Yichuan City. On the evening of May 17, just as the family was preparing dinner, Yichuan City fell into chaos.
The cannonballs fell one after another, breaking the illusions of the rogue pirates, and the real siege battle began.
The two earthen hills finally came into play, occupying a height advantage. The gunners could pour cannonballs on the city wall as much as they wanted. On the contrary, the arrows of the defenders in the city had a hard time hitting people outside the city.
In just one hour, the garrison at the top of the city suffered a heavy blow, not to mention more than a thousand casualties. The most devastating thing was that they could only be beaten passively.
In fact, there are artillery in the city of Yichuan. After Zhang Xianzhong was hit several times by the artillery of the northern Shanxi frontier army, he also learned to behave. The peddler tried to find a way to get the artillery, but after he actually fired it, he found that the artillery in his hand was different from that of the frontier army except in appearance.
The artillery inside was almost the same, but far different in terms of power, especially the range. It was simply incomparable. At first, they fired at each other for a while, but soon several artillery were silenced by the frontier artillery. Zhang Xianzhong felt extremely distressed.
, stop the bombardment quickly and let the people on the top of the city find a place to hide.
Zhang Xianzhong has long since lost his temper. The walls of Yichuan City are about four feet high, but the hills outside the city are about five or six feet high. The field of vision is highly suppressed and inherently inferior to others. Some people used to laugh at the stupid behavior of the officers and soldiers who piled mountains of earth, but now no one
You can laugh out loud, sometimes seemingly ridiculous behavior often has very good results.
The psychological pressure of being beaten passively all the time is unimaginable.
At the end of the day, the four gates of Yichuan City suddenly opened wide, and the bandits in the city rushed out like mad dogs. They attacked the garrison outside the city crazily. Everything came so suddenly and the advantage was so natural. The officers and soldiers also reacted very well.
Quickly, after overcoming the early passivity, they began to counterattack. The two sides fought for nearly two hours before the peasant army soldiers slowly retreated.
However, Zhang Xianzhong's goal has been achieved. In this crazy night's attack, he successfully covered tens of thousands of soldiers rushing to Yanshui River under the cover of darkness. Looking at the blank night sky, Zhang Xianzhong didn't know what would happen in the future, but he could do everything he could.
It has been done. As for the Battle of Yanshui River, it depends on the people under Wang Zi’s command.
At the same time, Tie Mo and Hai Lanzhu were also paying attention to the Yanshui River. Under the cover of night, ropes were stretched across the river, and pontoons were slowly built. Crossing the river was not a dream.
In the early morning, the bank of the Yanshui River was filled with mist. After standing for a long time, I felt a little wet. There was no moonlight tonight, and there were many stars. The sky was full of clouds like a Milky Way. The starry sky was bright and beautiful, but under this sky, there was nothing.
There is a chilling atmosphere brewing. The water in this area is fast, and there is a cliff on the opposite side. It is because of this cliff that the bandits have relaxed their patrols in this area. After midnight, no one will come here to investigate, so this is
Opportunity for officers and soldiers to build a pontoon bridge.
There are many experts in the water in the army. They swam to the other side and successfully climbed up the cliff with tools such as flying claws. Ropes connected the north and south. The soldiers behind carried the prepared wooden boards and spread them on them. These wooden boards were wide and long, and they had their own characteristics.
With great buoyancy and the support of ropes, this simple pontoon bridge would not collapse. After the pontoon bridge was built, the soldiers climbed up the opposite cliff one after another through the bridge deck. Relying on the buoyancy, they could not collapse even if they were carrying shields.
It would not sink. Under the cover of night, the bandits did not realize that the officers and soldiers had broken through the Yanshui River defense line.
It was a long night, but Wang Ziyong didn't feel sleepy at all. Looking at the dark night outside the window, he felt just a touch of sadness. I don't know when he turned into a gambler and actually placed the fate of the entire northern Shaanxi on the Yanshui River.
The courtyard was eerily quiet, as if everyone felt the coming apocalypse. The night wind in northern Shaanxi was a bit strong, and the high blue brick walls still couldn't block the cool wind.