The Tatars looked down from above and a volley of arrows rained down, killing and injuring many of the Ming troops. Fortunately, General He's troops were experienced in battle. After a moment of panic, they immediately set up a chariot formation, stopping the chariots on both sides and flipping up the boards to form a series of man-made fortresses.
The shield-bearers holding shields as tall as a man also formed a shield wall, surrounding the two sides. By the time the defensive formation was hastily formed, ten percent of the Ming troops were gone. Imperial Messenger Ye hurriedly jumped off his horse and crawled into Eunuch Liu's carriage. In a trembling voice he said: "It's clear, where did the Tatars come from?"
The roof and the sides of the carriage were made of thick wood, so it was not afraid of arrows. But hearing the 'du du' sound of arrows on the carriage, Imperial Messenger Ye could not help but feel a chill in his heart. Eunuch Liu was a eunuch but he was much braver than Imperial Messenger Ye. The muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably, mainly because it was the first time he had experienced a battle with thousands of troops and horses and he was nervous.
There were no trees on either side of the gentle slopes, slowly extending to the top of the mountain. There was no place to hide. But at this time, the Tatars in all kinds of clothing were running back and forth shooting arrows. Some of the hiding places had been destroyed, so people were able to see it.
It turned out that on both sides of the hillside, a wall about half a man's height had been built. The body of the wall sloped upwards and was covered with a layer of snow. Looking from below, due to the angle, it looked like a flat slope extending to the top of the mountain.
The Mongolians lived in the grasslands and deserts, moving with the water and had no fixed abode. A long time ago, they invented some simple methods of building a city. In the cold winter, they used dried grass and branches mixed with cold water to freeze the walls around their tents to keep out the cold. At night, they dug holes to boil water and used local materials to build these two mountain walls. It only took them half a night's work.
When Boyan Mengke learned of his son's tragic death, he immediately withdrew his troops and led an army day and night to Yumu village. By the time he joined forces with Bodarmo, his forces had already surpassed the Ming army. That was why he dared to abandon his horse and fight the Ming on foot.
Now the Ming army at Zhuolu and Chi County had surrounded them on both sides. He made this plan because he wanted to wipe out the Huailai Ming army in one battle and avenge his son, then lead his army to escape.
General He steadied his position a little and immediately shouted: "Signal the flag, order He Shijie to defend the front, Wang Chengxian take his men to attack the enemy on both sides, we must open a gap. He ordered Sun Dazhong and Bi Chun to move from the rear to the front and retreat quickly. Zheng Yier is suppressing the center! "
Wang Chengxian ordered the archers to fire arrows at the flanks of the enemy, while he led the saber and shield wielders and spear wielders to attack the hillsides on both sides to buy time for the army to retreat. On the hillside was the Tatar general Bodarmo commanding. Seeing that the Ming army was quickly stabilizing and beginning to counterattack, Bodarmo immediately gave the order, "Shoot down the Ming army waving the flag, shoot down the warhorses, stop the Ming army from getting into formation!"
Under the order, the arrows whistled like rain. The flag bearers were shot and killed on the spot. At the same time, many horses were hit by the arrows. The war horses roared in pain as they galloped through the valley. The Ming army was trampled by the war horses and their formation was immediately thrown into chaos. Their attack was also blocked.
The Imperial City Guard directed his men and horses to attack the right side of the hill under the rain of arrows. This part of the hill was not very high. By controlling this high point and organizing the archers to suppress the Tatars, they could stabilize their position. Otherwise, the army could only hide in the valley and wait for death.
He personally supervised the battle. Like trapped beasts, the Ming army covered the mountains and plains, using their flesh and blood to attack the hillside again and again. Corpses fell one after another, but no one sighed for the dead. No one even paid attention to who had fallen at their feet. In this battlefield of blood and fire, death had become so ordinary that even the most sentimental person would become numb to it.
Under the leadership of the Centurion and the sentinel, the Ming army swarmed forward, stepping over the bodies of their comrades in search of a chance of survival. On the hillside, the Tatars relied on the terrain and their outstanding archery skills. Every arrow was sure to kill.
Imperial Messenger Ye hid in the carriage and shouted in fear, "Official He, Official He, the Tatars have been lying in ambush for a long time. We should retreat quickly!"
General He held his goose feather saber and said with an ashen face, "I have already sent someone to inform Bi Chun. This valley is narrow and not good for our army to gather. If the rear does not retreat, we will not be able to charge out!"
Imperial Messenger Ye said angrily, "The army is lying in ambush and Bi Chun has not made a move yet. We are going to be completely annihilated! I want to charge him with the crime of delaying the battle! Official He, I want to go to the rear to supervise the battle! "
General He was busy commanding the army and really couldn't bear to listen to his long-winded chatter. As soon as he heard that he was going to the Bi Chun camp, he immediately arranged for twenty shield bearers to escort him and Eunuch Liu away in order to save him from being a hindrance. A scholar and a eunuch, the two highest commanders immediately stumbled toward the rear of the camp.
The valley at the foot of Crouching Tiger Mountain was shaped like a gourd. The mouth of the gourd was facing the direction of the Fowl Cry Post. Bi Chun's army had just entered the valley when Yang Ling and Ma Lian 'er rushed into the army. Hearing Yang Ling's nervous report, Bi Chun also knew that the situation was serious. She was about to take him to see General He when the Tatars on both sides had already begun their attack.
Under the cover of a rain of arrows, a large number of Tatars leapt from their bunkers halfway up the mountain to the mouth of the valley and cut off the Ming army's retreat. The mouth of the valley was narrow. As long as a few dozen people had strong bows in their hands and the rain of arrows did not stop, even thousands of soldiers and horses would not be able to charge out.
The goal of the Tatars at the mouth of the valley was to block the retreat, so they only guarded the vital points and did not attack. Each of these Tatars carried at least four quivers of arrows on their back. Bi Chun's southern army was mainly made up of sword and shield bearers and musketeers. It was impossible for them to fight against these Tatars who were brave and good at fighting, who could fight one against ten, and who were also defending the vital points.
In a short while, there were more than a hundred Ming bodies left at the mouth of the valley. The smell of blood was so close that Ma Lian 'er, who had seen this kind of battle for the first time, had a face as white as snow. It was Yang Ling who had gone through the battle to defend the city that had given him a certain level of mental endurance. He pulled her to hide between two carriages to avoid being injured by stray arrows.
The Ming army's counterattack was quickly stopped by the Tatars' sharp arrows. One by one, bodies fell at the narrow mouth of the valley. On one hand, the Ming army had to fight the Tatars at the mouth of the valley for the only exit, and on the other hand, they had to deal with the continuous shooting of sharp arrows above their heads. Their casualties continued to increase.
Yang Ling noticed that the Ming army's counterattack was extremely chaotic and could not pose any threat at all. Their officers could not be said not to be brave. They led the soldiers without fear of death, but they only knew how to show off their individual bravery and did not know how to effectively organize the soldiers to fight.
To put it bluntly, if they were on the plains under the command of their general, they could still form a proper formation. But once this kind of chaotic battle occurred, the higher ranking officers could not effectively carry out their orders. Those lower ranking officers who could not even read knew to lead the soldiers or brandish their swords to supervise the battle. They did not know how to make good use of the combination of sword and shield bearers, musketeers, long spears, and archers.
Yang Ling saw the quality of this army and was so nervous he was sweating profusely. Ma Lian 'er was worried about her brother's safety. Seeing him standing next to City Secretary not far ahead, she was reassured.
At this time, Imperial Messenger Ye and Eunuch Liu rushed over in a sorry state. Imperial Messenger Ye was about to reprimand City Secretary Ye for his failure in breaking through the encirclement when he suddenly saw a woman dressed in green. He thought it was City Secretary who had brought his family with him and couldn't help but feel angrier.
City Secretary Ye saw that the Tatars in the valley were relying on the dangerous terrain to hold the pass by one man and would not be able to break through quickly. He was about to order his troops to attack the enemy on the hillside and use the power of the musketeers to suppress the Tatars at the mouth of the valley. But in Imperial Messenger Ye and Eunuch Liu's view, opening the mouth of the valley was the only way out. If they waited for him to attack the hillside first and then take the mouth of the valley, they were afraid that by then the entire army would have been wiped out.
So the two of them, as the army supervisor, ordered him to immediately open the mouth of the valley at all costs. City Secretary Ye angrily ordered to stop attacking the mountain and could only gather his troops to attack the mouth of the valley. With an ashen face he ordered: "Commander Qi, Commander Lu, gather the muskets and fire arrows to attack the mouth of the valley. Only advance is allowed, no retreat is allowed. We must kill a bloody path!"
He then shouted to the captain of his bodyguards: "Guan Shouying will supervise the battle at the front. If one person retreats, kill one person. If the whole team retreats, kill the captain. If the captain dies in the line of duty and the whole team retreats, kill them all!"
The order was like a mountain. The two commanders also knew that this was a moment of life and death. They immediately ordered their troops to brave the rain of arrows and attack the mouth of the valley. The arrows in front were like rain. Although the hillsides on both sides were suppressed by the Ming army's firepower, there was no end to the arrows. Many soldiers had not charged far when the sharp arrows pierced through their leather armors and blood stained the ground.
The musketeers who had charged into the effective firing range fired a volley. Although they managed to kill many Tatars, the swordsmen and shield bearers at the back did not have time to follow the charge. The Tatars fired arrows and once again sealed the mouth of the valley.
When Yang Ling saw this, he hammered the carriage heavily. He glanced at the corpse of a dead horse on the ground and suddenly thought of an idea. He immediately shouted: "Bi Daren, use the warhorses as meat shields. The army follows behind the horses. We will definitely be able to open a gap!"
Hearing this, Eunuch Liu and Imperial Messenger Ye were ecstatic. They immediately ordered General Bi to do as he said. It must be known that at that time warhorses were worth nearly four hundred strings of coins. The Ming army had always been short of warhorses. Therefore, the officers and men in the army had never thought of using warhorses as weapons. At this time, the life and death of the army was at stake. How could they care about horses? They gathered the remaining warhorses to the front of the formation. There were about forty horses. The musketeers took some gunpowder and smeared it on the horses' tails. When the fire was ignited, the warhorses felt the pain and immediately neighed and galloped forward.
Leading the army to guard the mouth of the valley, Zhilin Dada suddenly saw dozens of warhorses with their tails on fire galloping madly toward them. The ground rumbled. He was shocked and ordered his troops to fire arrows. A volley of arrows was shot out. Horses' lives were not as fragile as humans. Although a few horses cried and fell, most of the warhorses still galloped madly with arrows on them. They broke the Tatars' formation and galloped madly out of the valley. Some of the soldiers who did not retreat in time did not even have the time to scream before they were trampled into meat paste by the disorderly horses.
Taking advantage of this good opportunity, Bi Dushi commanded his army to charge out of the valley despite the arrows on their heads. Zhilin Dada immediately led the remaining four hundred odd Tatars to meet them. The mouth of the valley was narrow, only two hundred men were needed to seal it tightly. The two armies immediately huddled together and engaged in hand-to-hand combat at the mouth of the valley.
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