As the hot air balloon rose into the sky, the wind whistled past the undulating mountains in the field of view.
The mountains in the early winter were green and grey, rising and falling like a strange ocean. The road between the mountains was like a giant dragon breaking through the ocean, spreading forward along with the advance of the army. The forest in the distance rose and fell rhythmically, hiding a man-devouring abyss.
Li Bai once said, "The road to Shu is more difficult than ascending to the heavens." But in reality, this road, which was described as more difficult than ascending to the heavens, was already a relatively easy pass into the land of Shu.
To the west of the Sword Pavilion and to the north of the Taurus Path was a place later known as the Dragon Gate Mountain Fault Zone. It was a true natural moat. Although the Big and Little Sword Mountains to the south were also rugged and covered densely with cliffs, the Golden Bull Path went through the mountains and ridges. Quite a few relay stations and villages were built on the side of the road to send off the traveling merchants. There were also hunters coming and going in the mountains.
In the past, those who could traverse through such rugged mountain ridges were, after all, only the poor old hunters in the vicinity. In the dense forest and rugged terrain, ordinary people could get lost soon after entering the forest, never to return. In the middle of October, the first large-scale battle broke out in this kind of terrain.
Through the hot-air balloons or watchtowers built high up in the sky, one could occasionally see the sounds of explosions in the distant dense forests or mountain creeks.
The Huaxia scouts carried grenades with them, and the Jurchen scouts also carried lightning bolts that could be ignited by open flames. Apart from the violent sounds caused by these two, most of the fighting in the forest was not easy to see from the outside. Only miserable screams could be heard from afar, and occasionally, smoke could be seen rising from the forest, or explosions could be heard in the distance. The troops on the main road knew that a battle was taking place.
In the first few days, fierce but scattered battles took place in the forest. The two armies that started fighting cautiously probed each other's strength. There were dozens of sporadic explosions near and far every day. Occasionally, wounded people would retreat from the forest. The leading Jurchen scouts would report to their superior officers about the strength of the Huaxia army's scouts.
These scouts were the most elite veterans of the Nuzhen Army. They were either hunters tempered in the harshest environment in the northern mountains or soldiers who had survived mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their senses were very sharp, and they could easily find their way or kill beasts and tigers in the woods. Moreover, many of them were quite famous in the army and were trusted confidants of the generals in any army. Yu Yu had used these trusted aides from the very beginning for two reasons. Firstly, he trusted them, and secondly, he wanted to get the most accurate feedback.
Reports of the first battle were quickly sent back by the wounded and the retreating scouts. Having developed in the southwest for several years, the Hua Xia scouts were no strangers to the mountains of Sichuan and Shu. The first batch of elite scouts who entered the forest and fought with the Hua Xia army achieved some results, but their casualties were not small.
In the first few days of friction, it was actually impossible to accurately determine the casualty ratio. However, this situation did not surprise the upper echelons of the Jurchen army. In small scale conflicts of less than a hundred people, even the Wu dynasty army could often achieve impressive results. The Han did not lack brave and resolute soldiers, let alone the Black Flag Army who had killed Lou Shi and Ci Busi.
Twenty days later, the previously arranged follow-up scouts entered the mountains one after another. For these non-Jurchen scouts, the upper echelons of the army issued an extremely high reward: killing a Black Flag Army soldier would reward them with a hundred strings of coins, and officers would receive more than this. Above the company level, they would receive land, official titles, and even noble titles. If they were captured alive, it would be three times as much.
The gap between the rich and the poor in the Wu dynasty society was enormous. A poor family's annual expenses were no more than a few strings of coins. An eighth-rank county magistrate's monthly salary was around fifteen strings of coins, so they were relatively wealthy. Here, an ordinary person's head was worth a hundred strings of coins. Most of the scouts were elites of the army. If they killed a few with flowers on their shoulders, they would be rich for the rest of their lives.
The gold and silver used as rewards were placed in chests next to several relay stations on the road. It dazzled people's eyes. This was what the scouts of the various armies could directly receive. As for killing the enemy on the battlefield, the reward would first belong to each army's military merits. After the battle was over, the reward would be uniformly awarded. However, it would basically be about the same as the price of a scout's head. Even if they died on the battlefield, as long as the army's military merits were in place, the reward would still be distributed to each family.
Based on this kind of reward, Wanyan Zonghan would need to spend at least tens of millions of strings of coins to "buy" the heads of the entire Huaxia army. However, he did not mind.
When Liao was still alive, the Wu dynasty paid Liao more than a million strings of coins every year. However, by relying on trade, the Wu dynasty would earn it back several times over. Back then, Tong Guan redeemed the sixteen prefectures of Yan Yun. Together with the large and small families of the northern lands, and various officials in the court, they pooled together tens of millions of strings of coins worth of property. In the end, he was meritorious in conquering Liao, recovered Yan Yun, and became famous. These tens of millions of strings of coins would still be taken back from the hands of the people.
When the Jin Kingdom trampled the Central Plains and destroyed the Wu dynasty, along the way they destroyed and exterminated families, the gold and silver they seized and the slaves that could be brought back to the northern lands to produce gold and silver were more than that. If they could "buy" the Huaxia army with tens of millions of strings of gold and silver, Zonghan, Xi Yin, and the rest would not be the least bit stingy.
This was the final battle that would decide the world.
In the midst of such huge benefits and glory, not only the scouts, but even the soldiers of the middle and lower ranks were rubbing their palms and getting ready for action.
On the twenty-second, the conflict between the scouts in the boundless mountain forest suddenly began to become intense. The troops that the Taoist Lady and the Huaxia army had invested chose to increase at the same time and at the same point.
Since the afternoon of the twenty-second, the most obvious signs of conflict that could be seen in the rugged mountain ridges were not the occasional explosions, but the black pillars of smoke and mountain fires rising from the forest. This was a strategy that many people chose to confuse the situation after fighting in the chaotic environment of the forest. Some of the mountain fires swirled and then extinguished, while some of the mountain fires spread in the relatively dry environment of early winter. With the whistling northern wind, they set off a great momentum.
Thick smoke billowed in the mountains, and the burn marks could be clearly seen from more than ten miles away. The animals that lived in the forest fled in all directions, and the occasional outbreak of killings unfolded in such a chaotic situation.
Most of the fires in the forest were caused by the Bohai people of the Jurchen side, the Liaodong people, and the Han army scouts.
Although the huge reward offered by the Taoist Lady made this group of skilled and courageous military elites eager to enter the mountain to kill the enemy, but when they entered the boundless forest and really began to fight with the Huaxia army, the huge pressure would fall on everyone.
The mountains and forests of Sichuan seemed vast, and those who were good at running in the mountains could indeed find many roads, but the rugged terrain made these roads appear narrow and dangerous. Everything was fine until they met the enemy, but once they did, the most intense and treacherous killing would unfold.
The Huaxia army scouts, who were originally trained to fight in the forest, were mostly dressed in clothes similar to the color of the forest scenery, and each of them carried a powerful crossbow. When they suddenly encountered the enemy, the ten members blocked the road from different directions. Just the first wave of crossbow bolts from different angles was enough to make people tremble.
In addition to the crossbow bolts, each member carried two or three grenades. If they encountered such an explosion on the narrow road, it would really be difficult to advance or retreat.
Apart from the crossbows and Fire Grenades, the ten members each had their own focus and cooperation. Some of the team members carried steel hooks that were easy to climb and pulleys that allowed people to go up and down the mountain like monkeys. There were also a few elite teams that carried sniper rifles and moved forward. They occupied high ground and used binoculars to observe and send signals to nearby teams.
Among the Jurchen scouts, there were Hai Dongqing, many godly archers who could shoot with great accuracy, and some people who were good at climbing dangerous mountain peaks. But under the systematic cooperation and pressure of these Huaxia army squads, the first group of scouts to encounter the enemy on this day suffered heavy casualties.
Hundreds of scouts on the main road to the mountain pass still seemed crowded and lively. After entering the forest, they chose different roads and scattered, and from time to time, they would encounter the retreating figures of the elite Jurchen scouts who had entered the mountain in the past few days. They went up as replacements, and the hundreds of special forces squads of the Huaxia army had also arrived one after another. In the afternoon, the fighting in the forest was chaotic, and some of the surviving scouts set fire to some blazing flames.
Some of the scouts who had surrendered to the Jurchen side were crying and cursing. Although they had the advantage of numbers in this forest, the combat strength of each team was different, and their styles were different. Their coordination and progress were also different. Some of the troops were fighting in the front, and they saw the flames behind them spreading …
On the other hand, the special forces squads of the Huaxia army had a rough battle plan. This was still the early days of the war, and the squads were closely connected. They were deployed according to the core squads that occupied the commanding heights in different areas. They advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and there were basically no teams that advanced too rashly.
Over the past few days, they had encountered extremely powerful veterans, hunters, and other figures in the enemy's troops. Some of them suddenly appeared and slit throats with an arrow, and some of them hid in piles of dead leaves and killed people. But in terms of exchange, the Hua Xia army always had a huge advantage.
According to later statistics, on the twenty-second day, more than six hundred Jurchen scouts died in the fighting in the forest, and the Huaxia army had more than a hundred casualties. On the twenty-third and twenty-fourth day, both sides had fewer casualties. The Huaxia army's scouts had been pushed forward, but there were also several Jurchen scouts who had become more familiar with the forest and occupied several important observation points in the forest. This was just a small loss before the start of the war.
Yu Yu adapted to this situation and made several adjustments to the battle in the mountains. But in general, he did not care too much about the stiff responses of some of the vassal troops.
On the twenty-fifth day, Ba Li Su and his tens of thousands of troops were ready outside Huangming County. Thousands of Han prisoners were driven toward the county walls.
Huangming County had originally been a small relay station, but it was not a strong city. Its city walls were no more than ten meters tall, and the side facing the mountain pass was four hundred and sixty meters long, which was equivalent to one thousand five hundred meters in the future. The city wall snaked from the open ground all the way to the hillside in the south. The hillside terrain was relatively steep, causing this section of the defense to form an "L" shape. A few catapults and cannons that were positioned further away were deployed here. The hot air balloon that was in charge of observation was also floating high above this side of the city wall.
The northern end of the city walls was adjacent to a six or seven meter long mountain stream, but there was also a small road near the city walls. As the prisoners were driven over, the soldiers on top of the city walls shouted loudly, telling the prisoners to make a detour to the north of the city in order to survive. The Jurchens at the back naturally would not allow this. They first used arrows to drive the prisoners south, then set up cannons and catapults and began to fire toward the crowd in the north.
The crowd cried and squeezed toward the bottom of the city walls. Arrows, stones, and cannonballs landed in the crowd at the back. Explosions, cries, and screams mixed together, and the smell of blood spread in all directions.
The prisoners who had squeezed to the bottom of the city walls were out of the range of the cannonballs and catapults. Some of them shouted for the Huaxia army to open the city gates, while others wanted to throw down ropes from above. However, the Huaxia soldiers on top of the city walls were unmoved. Some of them spread toward the north of the city, while others ran toward the rugged mountain slope in the south.
In fact, the small road between the mountain stream and the city walls was the only way to escape. In the Jurchens' formation, Ba Li Su quietly watched as the prisoners were driven all the way to the bottom of the city walls. There were no landmines in the middle, and when the crowd began to squeeze toward the north, he ordered his men to drive out the second batch of about a thousand prisoners.
Mixed in with this batch of prisoners was a team of about a hundred archers. Under the cover of the Han prisoners, they closed the distance between themselves and the city walls and began to shoot at the prisoners who were running north. Some of the arrows landed on the top of the city walls.
Pang Liu 'an ordered the cannons to fire.
Three cannonballs whistled out from the city walls of Huangming County and fell into the crowd of archers. At this time, the Woman Zhenren also fired sparsely at the back of the running captives. These three shells flew over, but they were inconspicuous amidst the shouts and smoke. Ba Li Su stood on his horse and slapped his thigh, his eyes filled with bloodlust.
He waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to release the third batch of prisoners.
There were also about a thousand prisoners in this batch. What was different from the previous batch was that the Jurchens had given these prisoners dozens of crudely made scaling ladders.
"… If you want to escape to the north of the city, you can't! The city walls in front of you aren't high. The Black Flag Army considers themselves to be Huaxia. As long as you go up, they won't kill you! Carry the ladders and run for your lives! Those who run too slowly, be careful of the Jurchens' cannons! "
The one who was shouting in front of the prisoners was a former official of the Wu dynasty. His body was covered in blood, and his face was swollen as he conveyed the Jurchens' message to the prisoners. Among the prisoners, a large number of them were dragging their families. They carried ladders and ran forward while crying. Some of them were carrying children, their mouths filled with indiscernible pleas for mercy.
At this moment, the Huaxia soldiers on the city walls were putting down shields, swords, spears, door planks, and other objects into the crowd below the city walls so that they could defend against stray arrows. Seeing people carrying scaling ladders over from the other end of the battlefield, Pang Liu 'an and Chief of Staff Guo Chen only fell silent for a moment.
"… Have someone shout. Tell them not to bring scaling ladders. There are spies in the crowd. Don't fall for the Jurchens' trap."
Guo Chen gave the order and then sent an order to the artillery soldiers, "Mark the distance."
The soldiers on the city walls held simple loudspeakers and shouted with all their might.
There were no soldiers on the "battlefield" in front of them. There were only crowds of people running, shouting, and crying. The stench of blood rose up, mixed with the smoke and internal organs.
This was the most "gentle" beginning of the entire battlefield. Ba Li Su's eyes were filled with bloodthirsty fanaticism as he watched all of this.
For the Female Zhenren, this was just a simple massacre that she hadn't even gone all out yet, but she enjoyed the enemy's dilemma. What the opposing general showed — whether it was decisiveness or anger, would make her feel satisfied.
For the Huaxia army, this was a psychological test that sounded cruel but was actually very common. Many people had experienced it as early as the Little Canghe period. Now, a large number of soldiers had to go through it again.
The Jurchens had swept through the world. If they needed to capture people, they could easily capture millions of them. Ba Li Su drove them forward, chased them, and slaughtered them. If the soldiers on the city walls showed the slightest bit of weakness or weakness, Ba Li Su, Zong Han, and the others wouldn't mind sending another hundred thousand or even a million people to kill them in front of the battle formation.
The prisoners with scaling ladders were driven over. They closed the distance and began to merge with the previous batch of prisoners. The soldiers on the city walls shouted with all their might. Pang Liu 'an took a deep breath.
"Fire."
On the city walls, the soldiers dropped their torches, and the muzzles of the iron cannons rumbled. The cannonballs rushed out of the fire and flew over the sea of people.
After one cannonball, another, and then the third cannonball. As the airwaves surged, some people were blown away. Some people had their limbs broken, and they cried out mournfully.
"Hahahaha …" Ba Li Su laughed on his warhorse, and the subsequent orders were sent out in an orderly manner.
The catapults in all directions of the battlefield began to take advantage of the chaos to slowly advance forward. The cannons advanced, and the fourth batch of prisoners were driven out … In the Jurchens' camp, Meng An (Chiliarch) Wuritan and a group of subordinates had finished their preparations and were waiting to set off.
This was the vanguard general of the Jurchens who had experienced hundreds of battles. When Aguda was still around, Wuritan had been Ba Li Su's trusted general. The attack on the Hua Xia army this time was of great significance to Zong Han and Xi Yin. Many people also saw it as the last obstacle to conquering the world. However, the cautious use of troops and ample preparation did not mean that the people in the army had lost their initial drive.
Faced with the obstacle of Huang Ming County, after Ba Li Su set up his formation, Wuritan asked the commanding general for orders. He hoped to lead the army in this battle and obtain the first merit in the battle to avenge Lou Shi, Ci Buxiu, and the other marshals. Ba Li Su agreed.
As the captives were driven out one batch after another, the Jurchen army's formation was also slowly advancing. Around noon, the catapults with the furthest shooting range gradually entered the attack range of Huang Ming County's city walls. The Hua Xia army, who had been waiting for the exhausted, first used the catapults to attack the Jurchens' camp. The Jurchens quickly fixed their weapons and launched a counterattack. At this time, there were less than eleven people who could escape from the battlefield through the small path north of Huang Ming County. The battlefield had already turned into a meat grinder for the civilians.
At around one in the afternoon, the most depressing and tiring time in the afternoon, the first wave of the bloody battlefield erupted. The thousand-man team led by Wulythan changed their outfits slightly and brought another batch of civilians with them as they advanced towards the city wall. He decided on the attack point and divided the thousand-man team into ten batches, killing their way forward from different paths.
Ba Li Su rode on his warhorse and looked at the battlefield calmly. At a certain moment, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
The battlefield was still filled with cries and noises. The catapults from both sides were attacking each other. Five of the catapults set up by the Jurchens had already been smashed. At the bottom of Huang Ming County's city walls, countless people were rolled into meat paste by the flying boulders. The flying boulders brought about great destruction and did not stop for a moment. However, at the top of Huang Ming County's city walls, the atmosphere seemed to have suddenly quietened down.
Ba Li Su felt this moment of silence.
On top of the city walls, Pang Liu 'an suddenly rushed forward. He picked up his binoculars and quickly scanned the battlefield. Some of the veterans among the Hua Xia soldiers guarding the city walls also seemed to have sensed something. They looked out under the cover of their shields. Some of the inexperienced newbies in the army looked at the movements of these veterans who had experienced the Little Canghe Era.
"Hehe … Motherf * cker, finally, dared, to, come …"
The sound of a long knife being pulled out of its sheath was oppressive to the bone. The sinister aura that spread on top of the city walls was like that of a slaughterhouse.
"… They're coming. Are we going to open fire?"
The city walls of Huang Ming County were no more than ten meters tall. If the enemy approached, they could quickly scale the walls and fight. Pang Liu 'an's gaze swept across the battlefield that was filled with blood and mournful cries. He gritted his teeth.
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