Naturally, Huang Songpu did not think that four hundred grassy barricades would be enough to take down the peak of Crone Mountain. After this batch of elite horse barricades, there were six hundred men of sacrifice drawn from the various divisions. With the grassy barricades nailed to the peak of Crone Mountain, Wanyan Yinjiang and the other nobles and generals did not hesitate at all. In these three battles, Old Marshal Huang Songpu's performance was completely different from Dong Zhuo in the first battle of Liang Mang. He did not take any actions to weaken the strength of the other divisions. Every time, he fought to the death first, and people died first. In these three difficult battles, Old Marshal Huang Songpu had reported to the Emperor and was very protective of them. Twice, he took all the blame, and the third time, he generously gave out military merit. Under these circumstances, even the gloomy Wanyan Yinjiang would feel bad. Of the six hundred men of sacrifice, Wanyan Yinjiang sent out three hundred Wanyan disciples.
As expected, in a small scale battle, without the leeway brought by the warhorses, people died even faster. The four hundred grassy barricades quickly died. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, the peak of Crone Mountain was filled with the figures of the remaining white horse crossbowmen. The six hundred men of sacrifice of the Southern Court aggressively entered the battlefield. The side of Liuzhou seemed to only use the white horse crossbowmen as an opportunity to seize the initiative, and definitely did not have the intention of letting all the crossbowmen die at Crone Mountain. This was also within reason. The ownership of Crone Mountain was, of course, important, but it could not be considered crucial, and could not be said to affect the outcome of the battle. If the battle between Liang Mang and Liang Mang was on the map of the Central Plains, where the tempo of the battle was slower than that of a cavalry battle, the gains and losses of Crone Mountain would be more significant. However, in a cavalry battle, especially a large scale cavalry battle where both sides had accumulated more than a hundred thousand soldiers, and both sides were familiar with fighting on horseback, opportunities were often fleeting. In addition, Crone Mountain was not located at the center of the battlefield, but at a side away from the battlefield. When the time came, the side that lost Crone Mountain could very well take the initiative to move the main battlefield away from Crone Mountain. In this way, Crone Mountain's geographical advantage to observe the battlefield would be weakened. Therefore, both sides knew that the battle for Crone Mountain was bloody and bitter. To a large extent, it could be said that it was used to raise the morale of the soldiers at the foot of the mountain.
Liuzhou's reinforcements quickly arrived at the peak of Crone Mountain, consisting of close to a thousand Lantuo Mountain monk soldiers. The White Horse Wandering Crossbowmen who had fought from outside Liangzhou Pass all the way to Liuzhou's border, compared to their mortal enemy Qingcaolanzi who had been completely wiped out on the battlefield, their losses were not small either, close to three hundred people dying on the mountain peak.
At the foot of the southern slope of Crone Mountain, away from the main battlefield, the leading general Kou Jianghuai was actually among them. The military authority of the ten thousand Liuzhou youths had already been completely handed over to Qi Fulong Pass. As for the twenty thousand Long Xiang Army, on the battlefield where they faced off against Beimang's main force, it was naturally Xu Longxiang and Li Mofan who each led ten thousand cavalry. Kou Jianghuai only spoke about how to win this battle, how to deploy the troops in detail and how to generally deploy them, but he definitely would not interfere with the killing of the Long Xiang Army after they entered the battlefield. The three thousand cavalry directly under the Liuzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion also did not appear here, instead following behind the ten thousand cavalry from Qi Fulong Pass, forming a central army. The two wings were the even stronger ten thousand dragon-elephant cavalry.
Huang Songpu did not leisurely head to the foot of Crone Mountain's northern slope like Kou Jianghuai to oversee his own central army. When the old general vaguely saw the monk soldiers of Lantuo Mountain appear at the summit, the old general with a grave expression finally let out a light breath of relief. In the previous third battle, the monk soldiers of Xie Xi Bian were not even worth his weight in gold. They were practically a burden that held him back, allowing this Southern Dynasty great general to obtain a great victory that even Taiping Ming did not expect. His military service was so great that it shook the grasslands. However, in the depths of Huang Songpu's heart, he instead felt even more apprehension towards the monk soldiers of Lantuo Mountain that the Beimang had obtained through winning the battle of Miyun Pass. He was not as optimistic as many of the Southern Dynasty border army generals who believed that the reason for the defeat of the Liuzhou border army was that Kou Jianghuai intentionally suppressed Xie Xi Bian, whose name shook the world at the battle of Miyun. Huang Songpu firmly believed that this was a trap set by Kou Jianghuai and Xie Xi Bian for him. If he was not careful, the people who would be strangled by the neck would be tens of thousands of grassland soldiers.
Wanyan Yinjiang, who was holding an iron spear and wearing heavy armor, urged his horse over. He loudly asked, "Great general, when do we charge?"
Huang Songpu glanced at the direction of Crone Mountain and calmly said, "Wait a little longer."
Wanyan Yinjiang, who knew the inside story of the military, was a little puzzled. Other than the 400 grassland soldiers and the 600 death warriors of the Southern Dynasty, the old general still had a backup plan. A total of 1500 elite soldiers. Using these elite soldiers to fight for Crone Mountain showed how much importance he placed on it. However, even Wanyan Yinjiang, who was not as talented in military strategy as the old general, knew that the number of soldiers he had was still too little. With the Beiliang Frontier Army's character of wanting to lose people, they could not afford to lose face. At the very least, they would need to add another 1000 soldiers to ensure that they would be able to take over Crone Mountain. One Crone Mountain was only worth this price. If more soldiers were sent in, more people would die on the mountain. For both sides, Liang Mang and Liang Mang, it would be a loss. The old general, Huang Songpu, obviously did not plan to take over Crone Mountain from the start. Instead, it was more of a test. After going through three battles, Wanyan Yinjiang knew his own worth. His arrogant personality had long been smoothed out. He was completely convinced of the old general's ability in military strategy. Since Huang Songpu said to wait a little longer, Wanyan Yinjiang, who was bound to the old general for good or ill, did not say any more nonsense.
The figures of soldier monks appeared on the surface of the water in an endless stream. These monks of Mount Lantuo, who possessed extraordinary combat strength, were especially eye-catching on the summit of Old Woman Mountain. One thousand five hundred Northern Mang and Southern Dynasty border soldiers all bravely sacrificed themselves.
In the end, there were still 200 monks of Lantuo Mountain standing at the peak of Crone Mountain. Their robes were bright red and dazzling. Furthermore, the number of Liu Province soldiers was still increasing. They displayed a ferocious attitude, as if they were going to take down this' old lady 'of Crone Mountain.
Wanyan Yinjiang quietly stopped his horse beside the old general. His brows were tightly furrowed. With the last of their reinforcements all dead, this also meant that Crone Mountain could be considered the exclusive property of the Liu Province cavalry.
Huang Songpu hesitated for a moment. He turned his head and asked, "General Wanyan, how many people do you think the monk soldiers of Lantuo Mountain have sent out for Crone Mountain?"
Wanyan Yinjiang subconsciously replied, "From the looks of it, a thousand people have died in battle."
Huang Songpu dismissed it with a laugh. He did not bother about this Beimang noble's irrelevant answer. He raised his head to look at the clear sky. He nodded and muttered to himself, "No matter what, we can start fighting."
Along the not so steep southern slope of Crone Mountain, three young men slowly led their horses forward. Liu Province's General Kou Jiangjun, Beiliang's only remaining White Horse Crossbowman Captain Li Hanlin, and Liu Province's Deputy General Chen Xiliang, who had personally brought 3,000 reinforcements to Kou Jianghuai.
Other than the hundreds of monk soldiers on the peak, there were no other soldiers at the foot of the mountain behind the three. Other than the White Horse Crossbowmen resting on the ground, there were no other soldiers.
Li Hanlin was the first to leave the group. Together with his fellow officers, he moved the corpses of those who had died in battle down the mountain.
Not far from Li Hanlin, there was a tall man dressed in ordinary border army attire without a saber. What was even stranger was that everyone ignored him.
As they approached the peak, Chen Xiliang asked softly, "General Kou, how did you guess that Huang Songpu would use less than 3,000 people to fight for Crone Mountain?"
Kou Jianghuai smiled. "After fighting three battles with him, I have a general idea of Huang Songpu's temperament. He is a seasoned and prudent general. He knows that Crone Mountain can't decide the direction of the battle. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't know the whereabouts of the monk soldiers of Lantuo Mountain, he wouldn't have sent the last 1,500 people to their deaths. Now he can see that I am determined to use the monk soldiers of Lantuo Mountain to take Crone Mountain. I guess the old man will be relieved. Because I gave a strict order from the beginning that no one of Beimang's men of sacrifice is allowed to live on the peak and pass on the military intelligence after seeing the details of the situation at the foot of the mountain. So I had no choice but to ask Li Hanlin's follower, the grandmaster, to secretly help me in order to prevent Huang Songpu from guessing how many monk soldiers are stationed on the southern slope. "
Finally reaching the top of the mountain, Chen Xiliang looked to the north and said bitterly, "Even if he knows that there are only 1,500 monk soldiers on the southern side of Crone Mountain, I believe that Huang Songpu will never be able to guess where the main force of the monk soldiers is. Because even I, Chen Xiliang, still find it inconceivable. "
The Liuzhou general said expressionlessly, "Life and death are decreed by fate, riches and honor are up to the heavens. His appearance on that battlefield was Xie Xibian's own choice. Moreover, I, Kou Jianghuai … did not want to stop him."
Chen Xiliang, who was in a complicated mood, could only sigh.
During the Battle of Miyun, Xie Xibian defended the mountain pass to the death.
Following this, Xie Xibian had to personally lead 10,000 monk soldiers to resist the 60,000 reinforcements from the southern border alone.
His goal was to have the Liuzhou cavalry work together with the Qingyuan army to swallow up Huang Songpu's main force.
Even Chen Xiliang, who was a layman in military affairs, knew that in some battlefields, one could fight to the death, but in other battlefields, one could not.
Chen Xiliang could not understand. Kou Jianghuai did not personally give the order, but Xie Xibian had already taken the initiative to bring up this matter. At that time, everyone, including Xu Longxiang, Li Mofan, and Liuzhou provincial governor Yang Guangdou, were hesitant.
This was because everyone knew that even if all 20,000 of the Lantuo Mountain monk soldiers were added together, in the young king's mind, they were not as important as Xie Xibian, who he had personally taken away from West Chu.
Only Kou Jianghuai dared to openly agree and let Xie Xibian die.
In the rugged area west of Crone Mountain, Xie Xibian stopped his horse. Behind him were more than 10,000 monk soldiers. Everyone had abandoned their blades and carried large shields, holding long spears to stop the horse.
When the middle-aged warrior monk who acted as the scout returned and reported that there were no Beimang scouts ten li ahead, the main general Xie Xibian raised his arm and moved forward. Only then did the troops continue to move forward quickly.
Xie Xibian, whose lips were dry, grinned and exhaled softly. For some reason, he thought of the delicate girl who often walked past his door with her head down and sunbathing when he was young.
South of Beiliang, there was her.
The reason was enough!
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