Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1095: 1090 [Feint to the East and Attack in the West]

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming army's artillery continued to bombard the Dali defenders, and they even became accustomed to the sound of the artillery.

Due to the lack of heavy artillery, Bai Qi had no hope of knocking down the wall. Therefore, he rarely used iron bullets, but instead chiseled nearby stones and polished them into stone bullets - first using iron bullets to bombard the defense facilities on the wall, and then using the artillery mounted on the mound to bombard the soldiers with stone bullets.

A few days later, the city wall of Longwei Pass was riddled with holes and half of it collapsed due to the breakage of wooden pillars.

The eight-mile-long city wall had many collapsed battlements and could no longer effectively protect the defenders. Several enemy towers were also hit hard by artillery shells, with some war sheds tottering and some already collapsed.

The frequency of the Ming army's artillery bombardment became lower and lower. They would only concentrate their firepower and fire fiercely when they observed enemies moving on the wall or when the defenders tried to repair the defensive facilities.

Normally, they would fire no more than twenty or thirty cannons a day, just to get bored and use stone bullets to bombard the battlements that had not fallen.

The Ming army camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake became more and more stable, with newly felled trees transported there every day. The Dali garrison commander understood that it was the frontier camp used by the Ming army to build siege equipment - but the garrison did not dare to attack outside the city, and did not even dare to take a boat to attack at night.

Within two or three miles of the camp, the Dali warships dared not get close at all. If they came a little closer, they would be fired upon by artillery.

In the blink of an eye, the Ming army had spent ten days outside Longwei Pass.

Lin Chong had already led his troops around Longshou Pass and was also cutting down trees to build siege equipment.

……

There was panic in Dali City.

Of course there are big Ming spies here, two of whom even live in Dong’s mansion.

The Dong family inherited the title of Qingping official, that is, the honorary prime minister of the Dali Kingdom, and was also the religious leader. Without the order of the real prime minister, which soldier would dare to come to the Dong family to search for spies?

They spread rumors whenever they had the chance, saying that someone from the Zhang family had surrendered to the enemy, or someone from the Yang family had surrendered to the enemy. They even did not spare the Dong family, claiming that the Qingping official Dong Mingshou had already betrayed the country and had been a guide during the last mission to the Ming Dynasty.

For a time, nearly half of Dali’s important civil and military officials were rumored to be colluding with foreign enemies.

"Not caught again?" Gao Yuchengsheng asked.

A general knelt on the ground and said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, those spies must have many places to stay in the city, and they even live in the residences of some officials. After the court posted the reward, many people came to report spies. Although most of them arrested the wrong people, the two people yesterday were definitely real spies. When I led the troops to arrest them, I saw them running into the alley, and they disappeared in the blink of an eye. There are several official residences nearby. I dare not search them."

Gao Yuchengsheng was holding more than ten rumor-mongering leaflets in his hand, one of which even claimed that Longweiguan Deputy General Gao Zhushou had surrendered to the enemy.

The news couldn't be more false.

But Gao Yuchengsheng was secretly worried. What should he do if Gao Zhushou really surrendered to the enemy?
Gao Zhushou's territory was in Moutongfu, which was very close to the capital area of ​​Dali. If Lin Chong, who led his army northward, could not break through Longshou Pass, he would most likely divide his troops and go north to attack Moutongfu.

The Moutong Mansion was short of military forces, and Gao Zhushou's relatives and property were all there.

Once the Ming army captured Moutong Mansion, would Gao Zhushou still loyally defend the city? I'm afraid that there would be no need for the Ming army to persuade him to surrender. After Gao Zhushou got the news, he would take the initiative to contact the Ming army outside the city.

Nowadays, a false rumor is very likely to become true.

Moreover, two spies who posted leaflets mysteriously disappeared in areas where powerful people lived, which proved to be a 100% certainty that some important officials in the court had defected to the enemy.

But who is the one who surrendered to the enemy?

It seemed like anyone could be the possibility. All the major families had grudges against the Gao family, and even the hatred within the Gao family was deepening.

Gao Yuchengsheng felt more and more depressed the more he thought about it. He felt that all the civil and military officials in the court were traitors. Even Gao Guanyinlong, who had helped him seize the position of prime minister and was currently in charge of guarding Longshou Pass, might surrender the pass to the Ming army at any time.

Gao Yuchengsheng has already regretted it. He shouldn't have jumped out to be the prime minister. Wouldn't it be better for him to directly offer land to the Ming Dynasty and pledge his loyalty?
Now they are in a difficult situation and dare not even surrender easily.

His move to seize power had already offended Gao Liangcheng greatly. And Gao Liangcheng had defected to the Ming Dynasty, so how could he allow Gao Yuchengsheng to defect to the Ming Dynasty and continue to survive?
Also, what if Gao Guanyinlong refused to surrender when he ordered it? Would he suddenly lead his troops to attack?

It was a complete mess and Gao Yuchengsheng's brain was about to explode.

……

On the fourteenth day, the Ming army fired artillery as usual.

The defenders were already accustomed to this and only left a few soldiers to lie behind the remaining battlements and observe.

The rest of the soldiers on duty all hid at the base of the wall inside the pass, even the generals were nearby.

Even when generals came to inspect, the soldiers still staggered around, all of them resigned to their fate.

A few days ago, the generals would scold them harshly, kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, and catch a few to beat with sticks. Now they are too lazy to do it anymore, because beating with sticks is useless and will only make the soldiers more angry.

"Well, it's better to guard the mountain stronghold. If you guard it on the mountain, you won't be hit by artillery fire."

"The people on the mountain are all short-lived. I heard someone say that if we want to capture Longwei Pass, we must first capture Dian Cang Mountain. We are only being attacked by artillery fire, but the defenders on the mountain may be stabbed at any time!"

"Do you think this place can be defended?"

"What do you think? Of the two previous prime ministers, one was defeated by the Ming army, and the other simply surrendered to the Ming army. What is the current prime minister? Well, he can live one more day, maybe he can escape quickly and save his life."

"You can't run away now. If you are caught deserting, you will be beheaded."

"I'm not stupid. I've already figured it out. If the mountains are captured by the Ming army, they will attack the city next. That will be a chance to escape!"

"How to escape?"

"Think about it. If the mountain is captured, the enemy will attack from the mountain and from outside the pass. When they attack the city, they will shout 'our army is defeated' and call for more people to escape. As long as there are many soldiers fleeing, how can the supervisory team take care of them?"

"..."

Under the wall inside the pass, groups of people were whispering to each other, some were even sharing their escape experiences.

Further away, a few miles away on the west bank of Erhai Lake, many Dali warships were anchored on the shore. They should have continuously sent out warships to cruise and bring pressure to the Ming army on the south bank, but after several ships were sunk by artillery fire, the sailors now began to give up.

The naval officers and soldiers had a simpler idea. Since they could just escape on a boat, their chances of escaping were very high.

If the war goes against us, we can just escape by boat.

No one believed that they could still win the battle, especially after seeing the power of artillery.

Gao Yuchengguang inspected the various places, his anger growing stronger and stronger. He shouted angrily at the mountain stronghold south of Tiansheng Pass: "How could a sentry be absent from duty in broad daylight?"

The commander of the mountain stronghold explained: "I have asked, it is not that he left his post without permission, he just went to the side to urinate."

"Kill that sentry!"

"Yes."

"Also, the defenses in your mountain stronghold are extremely sparse. Why don't you leave enough troops to guard the cliff behind? What if the Ming army climbs up the cliff?"

"It's enough to leave one group of soldiers to guard the cliff." "Send another fifty!"

"Yes."

Gao Yucheng gave a lecture and left the stronghold angrily.

He knew that the morale of the army had been weakened, especially with the daily bombardment. Although it did not kill many soldiers, it caused the morale of the Dali army to decline day by day.

Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even many generals began to play cowardly, just waiting to escape or surrender at the critical moment.

Apart from the shelling, nothing happened during the day.

Just like that, as night fell, the tide of Erhai Lake gradually receded.

The Ming army suddenly began to attack the mountain!
There was a loud sound of artillery fire at the foot of the mountain, countless torches were lit, and the sound of drums, trumpets, and shouts of killing were deafening.

Gao Yuchengguang personally ran back to the mountain stronghold to take charge and command the Dali soldiers on the mountain to defend.

Gao Zhushou stayed in the city gate to guard against the Ming army's night attack on the city, and transferred soldiers to the wall to defend.

The soldiers on the wall had just lit torches when they were hit by a volley of stones. They were so scared that they put out all the braziers and torches.

There was a fierce fighting on the other side of the mountain, but it was actually all a feint, just thunder without rain.

The real attack is in the water.

The defenders thought that the camp set up by the Ming army on the south bank of Erhai Lake was specially used to build siege equipment. They were totally wrong. They mainly built rafts!
Under the dim moonlight, rafts were pushed into Erhai Lake.

Teams of Ming army soldiers paddled rafts towards the embankment on the west bank of Erhai Lake.

Everyone's attention was on Cangshan because the fight was so intense.

Moreover, based on past experience, the Dali soldiers subconsciously believed that the Ming army would attack the mountain stronghold first. When the mountain stronghold was actually attacked, this thinking was further consolidated. In addition, the wall of the pass was also bombarded, and no one paid attention to the situation in Erhai Lake.

In order to make the play more realistic, Bai Qi even ordered artillery to fire at the Erhai water naval camp.

The distance was too far and they could not hit the enemy ship at all, but the Erhai Navy was so scared that they dared not come out.

Zhang Misheng is fifty-six years old and is a farmer in Fengyu County, Dali.

At this age, he already has gray hair.

His eldest son was killed in a battle with barbarians a few years ago.

His second son was drafted by Gao Zhenshou to fight in the war, and his life or death was unknown.

Gao Yuchengsheng sent people to recruit soldiers again. He told his youngest son to escape quickly, but he himself was captured to defend Longwei Pass.

Due to his old age, he was not sent to guard the mountain stronghold or the city pass, but was arranged to guard the embankment on the west bank of Erhai Lake.

In order to prevent the Ming army from launching surprise attacks by boat, temporary fortifications were also built here.

Hearing the sound of cannon fire in the distance, Zhang Misheng leaned against the embankment and sighed, "I'm afraid we can't defend the mountain stronghold."

"It has nothing to do with us," said a gray-haired old soldier nearby. "When the soldiers at Guancheng fled, we fled together, and we fled faster than them. Don't run to Dali, dive into Dian Cang Mountain, and come out after the battle is over."

Zhang Misheng muttered, "Escape into the mountains and starve to death?"

The old soldier said, "Once Longwei Pass is breached, Dali City will be gone in the blink of an eye. We won't have to hide in the mountains for long. I have fought in the war for more than 20 years. I didn't expect to be forced to fight in the battlefield at my age."

Not far away, there was a relatively young soldier standing on a defensive position, unbuttoning his belt, and releasing water into the Erhai Lake.

The Dali soldier shivered and was about to tie his belt when he suddenly noticed some shadows on the water ahead.

He thought he was seeing things, and quickly closed and opened his eyes again.

After staring intently for more than ten seconds, the Dali soldier suddenly shouted, "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

The roar of the cannons drowned out the sound of paddling, and it was not until then that people discovered that the Ming army was coming on rafts.

The Ming army, which was approaching secretly, found that their tracks had been exposed and immediately opened fire towards the shore.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

A series of gunshots rang out.

Zhang Yisheng subconsciously turned around and looked up. A bullet brushed past his ear and even his cheek felt burning.

"Run away! The Ming army is coming!"

The veteran soldier next to him had rich experience in escaping and knew that he should lead the team to collapse at this time, otherwise he would easily be caught and punished by military law if he escaped first.

Zhang Misheng, who is in his fifties, now moves as agilely as a young man.

He threw away the tattered spear in his hand, jumped down from the embankment, and shouted: "The Ming army is coming, run for your life!"

One after another, the Dali soldiers followed suit and shouted, then ran for their lives.

They were originally arranged to defend here, and they had no intention of fighting to the death from the beginning!
The Pseudo-Chu surrendered general Chen Tang, who was in charge of leading the surprise attack, had fought in Dongting Lake for many years and was extremely proficient in water battles.

Chen Tang thought there would be a fierce battle tonight, but after he fired his guns at the shore, the enemy troops there fled away completely, and even the generals and officers fled with the fleeing soldiers.

"Rush to the shore, light torches and send signals to friendly forces!" Chen Tang was overjoyed.

In less than a moment, countless torches were lit on the west bank of Erhai Lake, and gunshots were fired into the air to create momentum.

Bai Qi immediately commanded a frontal attack on the city gate.

Gao Zhushou, the deputy general of the Longwei Pass garrison, was somewhat confused and hurriedly sent people to the rear to check the situation. However, the soldiers who had long been thinking about escaping found that the Ming army was coming towards them and that the enemy had launched a surprise attack from behind, so they immediately shouted for their lives and began to flee in large numbers.

"Those who run away from battle will die!"

Gao Zhushou shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one listened to him except his personal soldiers.

Gao Yuchengguang, who was still guarding the mountain stronghold, was even more puzzled. The Ming army at the foot of the mountain made a big fuss, but there was no substantial attack for a long time.

Suddenly, a soldier came running from the bottom of the mountain in panic: "The fortress is gone! The fortress is gone!"

Gao Yucheng felt dizzy after hearing this and almost fell down on the spot.

(End of this chapter)