Dawn broke and the wind blew across the mountains in the southwest. Flames were still burning above the Sword Garret's pass.
The wooden watchtower had already been burnt black by the previous fire, and the beams and tiles were peeling off in the licking of the flames. Even though the open fire was gradually growing smaller, the scorching black smoke was still rising. The morning wind completely swallowed up the southern half of the city with the smoke. However, the northern part of the parapet wall was relatively less affected by the heat wave. The soldiers of both sides fought back and forth in the narrow passageway.
After the soldiers from both sides clashed, long-range support temporarily lost its effect. The Enlightened Beings formed a shield formation and charged forward. Behind them, they threw out some flaming grenades. The Huaxia Army also threw out grenades.
Explosions erupted on top of the wall. People looked for cover in the hot air. The heat waves burned, creating terrible blisters on people's faces. Some of the Hua Xia soldiers took the opportunity to move forward and throw grenades at the stairs behind the city tower. The blast from the previous explosion shook the city tower, which had become dry and rotten in the flames. Some of the pillars collapsed, burying the soldiers in the ashes, wood, and stone. The explosion caused a large amount of sparks to rise into the sky.
"Charge with me —"
The sound of the horn of charge spiraled along with the morning wind. The Huaxia Army soldiers were still surging towards the top of the scorching pass at the foot of the hill covered in ashes.
The Pass City surrounded by flames was a daunting sight to behold, but it wouldn't take long to break through it. The Huaxia soldiers who had climbed up the Guanlou had nowhere to retreat, so they had to force their way through the fire and black smoke with hand grenades. The rear of the Guanlou was not completely affected by the fire. Although it was easier for the fresh troops of the Women Zhenren to climb up, they suffered more damage from the explosion of the hand grenades. After a few repeated clashes, the Huaxia soldiers threw hand grenades into the small square inside the Guanlou, while the Women Zhenren retreated into the distance and retaliated with arrows.
The small square behind the pass was not big. Further back was a winding mountain path. The Enlightened Beings slowly retreated after a round of fighting, and the Huaxia Army surged forward. Mao Yishan led the first company to the top of the wall and broke into the small square inside the pass. As hundreds of people climbed the wall, some soldiers went down to the rear. Only then did Ba Li Su's real counterattack come.
The dozen or so cannons in the mountains behind them fired almost at the same time, the flying cannonballs and explosions enveloping this side of the pass and the square. At this time, the flames were spreading on top of the city wall. The city gate had long been blocked by a large number of stones from the inside. The entire pass was like a huge fence. Although the dozen or so cannons could not cover the entire area, under the bombardment of such heavy firepower, a dozen or so Hua Xia soldiers were sacrificed on the spot.
Ba Li Su had even prepared two small catapults on the mountain path behind them. They threw barrels filled with explosives at the burning building, causing a new round of violent explosions.
The mountain breeze blew over. Mao Yishan climbed up from the ground, his ears buzzing. He pulled the soldier beside him up and began to walk backward, shouting, "Save them! Find cover — "
There was no cover in the small square, but there were still blind spots from the artillery fire. Just as he helped his companion run to the blind spot under the city wall, the second round of artillery fire sounded in front of them. Smoke and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. Someone came to ask if they should retreat to the back of the city wall. Mao Yishan shook his head. "Save them! Prepare the grenades! Beware of the arrows! "
Amidst the smoke and dust, there were only a dozen or so Hua Xia soldiers who had retreated to the bottom of the city wall. Several injured soldiers were still struggling and rolling on the ground in front of them, but there was nothing else they could do. As Mao Yishan's words fell, a rain of arrows came from the sky in front of them.
A group of soldiers raised their shields, and then there was a loud clanging sound. In front of the smoke and dust, the Zhenren Woman rushed over.
"Grenades — get ready to charge —"
As Mao Yishan roared, several grenades were thrown at the charging Jin soldiers. On the other side, the Jin soldiers also threw some flaming grenades at them. They were throwing them at the blind spots of the city wall, but Mao Yishan was already one step ahead of them and rushed forward.
There was still a wounded Hua Xia soldier on the battlefield who staggered to his feet. The javelins of the Jin soldiers pierced through his body. Mao Yishan rushed past the soldier who had not yet fallen and crashed into the formation of the Jin soldiers who had also been blown up by the grenades. The rest of the Hua Xia soldiers also rushed forward in a frenzy and fought with the Jin soldiers in a disorderly manner.
The front was blocked by artillery fire, and the rear had to bear the bombardment of the flaming grenades. Only by fighting with each other could they be considered the only way out. Those who could follow Mao Yishan in the early stages of the attack were all veterans. Most of them could clearly see the situation. They used grenades to blow up the enemy into disorderly soldiers and charged forward. Once they rushed into the enemy's formation, they would form a formation of two or three people. In some parts of the battlefield, they would always have the advantage of two against one. The Zhenren Woman's individual combat skills were extremely fierce, but in the six months of the southwest campaign, even the most elite troops would often suffer losses in tangled battles with the Hua Xia army.
Mao Yishan killed two Jin soldiers in the battle. In his field of vision, several people had already fallen, and the smell of blood spread. On the back of the city wall, a few Hua Xia soldiers who had broken through had already come down and joined the battle after shooting with their crossbows. On the Zhenren Woman's side, several tall and well-armored soldiers also rushed over. They also did not dare to send too many soldiers at once, afraid that too many people would die in the explosion of the grenades.
Then, another barrel of gunpowder was thrown over the pass, and billowing smoke and dust filled the air. On the other side, a rocket flew over the top of the pass and into the opposite mountain wall, causing thick smoke to billow out.
Dijiang's firing had been adjusted several times, but in the situation where the distance could not be accurately determined and the mountain wind was fierce, the rocket could not threaten the Jin soldiers' position in the mountains at such a long distance. After a few shots from a distance, it could only give up in vain.
The two sides continued to fight in this environment of billowing smoke and flying arrows. After fighting for a long time, the Jin soldiers showed signs of retreating. Mao Yishan shouted, "Save the wounded!" Not long after, shells were fired again.
Everyone retreated to the blind spots of the city wall where the shells could not reach. Before the wounded could be moved to the top of the city wall, the Zhenren Woman's second round of attack came …
Round after round of collision and killing, the Jin soldiers rushed over and were beaten back again. The battle on the small square lasted for more than an hour. Both sides paid the price of more than two hundred people. As the fire above the pass gradually died down, the Hua Xia army finally stabilized their position on the small square in a pool of blood.
The corpses were piled up like a mountain.
In this small open space that could not be considered spacious, the two sides had used the tactic of adding oil to the fire to fight for the lives of more than two hundred people each. It could already be considered an incomparably tragic battle. Even in the Little Canghe of the past, there was rarely such an intense battle. Mao Yishan's position was on the verge of collapse several times. A large number of wounded retreated in the first round and then died in the second round of fighting. But until the end, the Zhenren Woman could not really gain the upper hand.
This happened in the first hour after the attack of Sword Gate Pass began. The Hua Xia army was firmly pressed in front of the small square under the city wall. Neither side could advance an inch. The Hua Xia army was determined to fight, and Ba Lisu did not show any weakness. In the end, the small area was piled up with corpses. Everything was extremely tragic.
Mao Yishan fell in a pool of blood in the battle. A company commander asked a soldier to carry him up the city wall and send him to the back. The soldier shouted to the medical team, "Save my commander." This was probably one of the few preferential treatments he received on the battlefield as a commander. More soldiers had died on the battlefield because they could not be sent back in time.
The flames on the top of the pass gradually subsided. As the road was gradually opened, the Hua Xia army began to try to break through the front. But on the mountain road behind them, Ba Lisu used the cannon array to defend the narrow mountain road impregnably. It was not until this afternoon that the Hua Xia army, with the help of several rockets, pulled out more than a dozen iron cannons at the back and tried to attack the mountain road.
What awaited them was a stubborn resistance that cut off all means of retreat …
*****
Every country or nation, when in danger, there would always be outstanding people who would carry out rounds of improvement or resistance in their own way.
Of course, it could also be because of the silence of thousands of horses and the rare resistance that it displayed such a special weight.
The warhorses galloped through the ridge, the long road, and the camp full of flags. When the scouts passed the news of the fierce battle at Sword Gate Pass to Wanyan Zonghan, the old Jurchen general, who had not been moved even after the death of her own son, could not help but shed two lines of turbid tears.
The death of a general in a hundred battles was inevitable on the battlefield. The death of a great general, even if it was his own son, was just a matter of luck. However, the defeat and death of a great general in the army represented the fate of a country. It had already reached the most urgent and critical moment.
Back then, when Aguda rose up with three thousand men, who could be considered special among these three thousand? Thousands of people died in battle after battle, but the Jurchen people were in high spirits. No one's death really affected the overall situation. Lou Shi was later called the War God of the Jurchen people, but at that time, he was not necessarily better at fighting than anyone else. He had only survived the decades of war. When Lou Shi died in the northwest, and later Ci Buyi, the Jin Kingdom felt even more pained. On the one hand, it showed how precious they were, but on the other hand, it only showed that others could not compare to them.
But in this war of the southwest, from Xie Lili to Shiyama, to Yu Yu and Dalai, each loss had caused one's heart to ache. Compared to thirty years ago, when they had followed Aguda in his uprising, they would not feel this way. It was normal for any of them to die. If one general died, another could replace him. But now, there was no one who could replace them.
Yin Shuke was killed in the battle of Tanzhou. He was supposed to be one of the generals who could hold the fort after the death of him and the Goddess of Grains. He did not expect to be dragged down by Wanyan Qingjue, who was a playboy, and he was killed by the Han general's strategy of life and death. After Yin Shuke's death, the power of his family could still fall on Ba Lisu's shoulders. The two brothers' military skills were fierce and imposing, while the other was steady and gentle. Each of them had a higher status than Xie Lili, Yu Yu, and Dalai. But with the news of the battle at Sword Gate Pass, Zonghan knew that Ba Lisu could not come back.
But there was nothing he could do.
Logically, the military strength of the southwest black flag was stretched. But just from the encounter at the Shiling Battle Array, Zonghan knew that the sword garret would not be able to stop the will of the inner demon from coming out from the rear.
If there were not Qin Shaoqian's 20,000 people outside the mountains in the southwest, perhaps the opponent would choose to be safe and wait for Da Jin to leave before taking back Swords Gate Pass. But because of these 20,000 people blocking the way, the dark dragon in the southwest would definitely break through the pass at all costs. Although there might be a backlash in the future, Swords Gate Pass could not stop the will of the inner demon, nor could it stop the attack of the new firearms.
If it was not a general like Ba Lisu, who was arranged at Swords Gate Pass, the rest would collapse and be defeated even faster. After the two armies of Hua Xia joined together, his army's journey back would only be more difficult.
Thinking back on the decades of journey where the generals gathered and gradually fell, Zonghan sighed, put on his helmet, and walked out of the tent. The army had been mobilized and assembled.
Before Swords Gate Pass was broken, all the elite forces would be gathered for a decisive battle to kill the so-called Seventh Army of Hua Xia led by Qin Shaoqian.
This was the only explanation he could make for Ba Lisu's sacrifice.
…
When the sky darkened, people had to light a fire. Sometimes, in the barren land, people could only light themselves up and wait for dawn.
The Nüzhen people had just experienced this feeling, and the people of the Wu dynasty had already been immersed in it for more than ten years. If Zonghan, Xi Yin, Ba Lisu, and the others could still show the aura of reason and awareness, then the one burning on Dai Mengwei by the Han River was more like a crazy and twisted torch.
In the north, in the Mansion in the Clouds, the weather was gloomy. Shi Liai stood on the city wall, and his fire was supporting the darkness that enveloped the Mansion in the Clouds.
Below the city wall was a sea of people who had been driven from all directions to besiege the city, including the Jin people and the Han people — this proved that it was not the Han people from the south who were attacking. In fact, the shape of the horses and tents running in the distance had already proved this. It was the grassland people who had been blocked on the west side who had made a detour to break through Yanmen Pass.
The situation of the siege had lasted for several days.
In the small towns and villages nearby, the original residents were driven over by the grassland people one after another. The sea of cannon fodder surrounding the city could not invade the city, but for the Nüzhen people, the most painful thing was the loss of dignity and face after experiencing such a thing for the first time. The nobles in the city kept clamoring to ask for permission to attack, but Shi Liai suppressed this idea.
On the second day after the grassland vanguard arrived at the city, Shi Liai once ordered a small number of cavalry in the city to attack to test the strength of the other side. This grassland cavalry appeared to be rash and reckless, and after a shooting battle, they retreated in panic. This was the first round of fighting between the two sides in the Clouds. As the warriors of the Jin Kingdom who had almost conquered the world, they were not afraid of death in the shooting battle, so it was natural for them to repel the other side. However, Shi Liai vaguely sensed that something was wrong. When he sounded the gongs to retreat, he realized that his own cavalry had almost been led far away by the other side, intentionally or unintentionally.
It was a very subtle distance. This cavalry was the elite of the city defense army. After receiving the order, they immediately returned, and the other side did not follow to attack again. But Shi Liai always felt that many eyes under the city wall were quietly watching him, waiting for an opportunity to come.
For the next two days, the old man carefully observed the movement of the cavalry from the top of the city wall. He vaguely sensed that although this cavalry seemed wild and untameable, in fact, they were quite outstanding in combat, which was subtly different from their performance during the attack and retreat that day. If he sounded the gongs to retreat a little later, the other side's army might have quickly followed his own cavalry to the city gate. Not to mention whether they could take advantage of the chaos to enter the city, at least the team under his command would not be able to return.
He was a man who had experienced war all his life. Even though he knew these things, he did not talk to the younger generation in private. On the one hand, he was a man of great authority, so there was no need to explain such trivial matters. On the other hand, it was very necessary to maintain the rebelliousness and drive of young people in many times.
The siege lasted for several days. Battles of all sizes were taking place near Yunzhong. The fourth expedition of the Jin Kingdom to the south had taken away most of the elite troops, but it did not mean that the interior of the Jin Kingdom was defenseless. Resident troops, security troops, and even veterans could pull out a considerable number of troops at any time. Ever since Yanmen Pass was breached and the prairie's vanguard quickly reached Yunzhong Manor, troops after troops were dispatched from all over the place, rapidly converging on this side.
On the way, they were attacked by round after round of arrows. The grassland people were skilled in archery and horsemanship. Now that the main force of the army had gone south, at least in terms of horses, the Jin people could no longer compete with these grassland riders. Moreover, these grassland people would not fight head-on with the Jin army. When they encountered the infantry, they would shoot them from afar. When the infantry formed a battle formation, they would leave. Not long after, they would come back to harass them again. They harassed them from day to night, and then from night to dawn.
Most of the Jurchen reinforcements were trapped in the quagmire and could not reach Yunzhong Mansion. Only two cavalry troops managed to pass through the blockade line on the 13th and 15th of April, but they were immediately surrounded by a large number of grassland cavalrymen in the distance outside Yunzhong Mansion.
Shi Liai did not move.
On the 17th of April, several seemingly crooked catapults were set up in front of the position. When the enemy pushed them over and prepared to throw them, the city wall of Yunzhong Mansion was also ready to fight back. Wanyan Dezhong and the others persuaded Shi Liai to get down from the city wall, but Shi Liai only moved to the nearby tower with the help of a walking stick.
"I personally supervised the renovation of Yunzhong Mansion. A few stones can't break this stupid wall. Let's see what they want to do. "
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