Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 296 0291【The Sixth】

Jumeng is facing a tortoise array.

On the side facing the narrow river, the trench was widened to two meters wide.The soil and rock dug out of the trench were used to build a 1.8-meter-high defensive wall.

The other two sides are wide river channels, without digging ditches and building earth walls, but using sharpened bamboos to insert into the ground, and sprinkled with barbed wire.After the sharp bamboos and caltrops, there are two rows of wooden fences.

There was originally a cage fort on the mountain behind the village, with [-] rural soldiers and [-] barbarian soldiers stationed there, which can not only defend against the sudden siege, but also support the village at the foot of the mountain.

On the second day after Jumeng arrived on the other side of the river, he tried to cross the river to attack.

It is easy to cross the river from the side of the narrow river, but the wide trench and the earth wall one person high seem to be a natural danger for the barbarians.

It is even more difficult to pass through the wide river, and a large number of leveling guns throw shotguns.Some stone bullets are the size of a fist, and some are the size of a head, and they hit the river like hailstones.Even if you are lucky enough to cross the river, you have to avoid sharp bamboos and caltrops and rush forward, followed by two wooden fences.

The best result was when a group of barbarians braved arrows and knocked down the first wooden fence.When they rushed to the second wooden fence, they were stabbed and scattered by the pikemen who were waiting for work.

He sent elite soldiers to try to occupy the back mountain, and the defenders nested in the cage fort on the mountain.This group of elite soldiers can only run back, because if they don't run again, they will be flanked by the defenders on both sides of the mountain.

For ten days in a row, the Han soldiers just stood firm in the village, and had no intention of going head-to-head.

There is no other way but to lose his temper at his younger brother: "This kind of dangerous place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, why did you lose it in one afternoon?"

Busu defended and said: "Too many tribes turned against each other before the battle, and I was able to hold on."

Ju furiously said: "The Han people know how to dig a very wide deep ditch, why don't you dig a wider ditch?"

Busu said, "There are not so many hoes."

Ju Meng: "..."

The hoes of the barbarians were all bought from Lizhou, and they were mainly smuggled, because the government forbids the export of pig iron tools.

The blacksmiths of Chuanman in Qiongbu couldn't make enough weapons, so how could they make hoes?
Their farming skills are already excellent, and they have learned to cultivate in recent years.Those mountain tribes are even worse. They are still slash-and-burn farming. A tribe occupies several mountains and burns wasteland to grow food in rotation.

Zhu Ming and Yu Wenchang, why can't they stick to it?
Because I am waiting for Qiao Huan to play a role!

……

On the 12th day of Jumeng's confrontation with the Han soldiers, another barbarian came to report from the south and west.

The Henan Man, A Zongman, and the native Baiman learned that the Sichuan Man in Qiongbu had suffered a defeat and that the main force was drawn out to fight against the Han soldiers. These tribes raided the villages of the Sichuan Man in Qiongbu.

The territory of the Chuanman in Qiongbu is full of wars. They have made enemies everywhere for decades, and now they have finally suffered the consequences of being attacked by groups.

To the south of the Dadu River and to the west of the Luoluo River, there are a large number of Henan Man living scattered in the mountains.

These Henan barbarians originally lived on the south bank of the Dadu River, and they were familiar barbarians who could speak Chinese.They were first attacked by the Lianglin Man, and then by the Qiongbu Sichuan Man. Some fled to the Han land on the north bank of the Dadu River, and some fled to the mountains to cultivate wasteland.

The Henan barbarians live extremely hard, but they are also extremely Sinicized. After more than ten years of farming in the ravines, they have gradually recovered some strength.

Now, Henan Man has seized the opportunity to come out of the mountain.

Qiao Huan did not persuade these foreigners, because the direction was wrong.

Before Yu Wenchang sent troops, he had already sent people to lobby the Henan Man.But they didn't dare to act rashly, and they kept watching with cold eyes, and they didn't send troops until they heard that the Han army had won a big victory.

Qiao Huan contacted the Lianglin Man, A Zong Man, and the native Bai Man. The three major barbarian tribes flocked north to the edge of the Chuan Man in Qiongbei, and more than a dozen villages have been breached.

After receiving news of the fall of the village in the rear, and the Han soldiers on the other side of the river could not hold on, Ju Meng didn't know what to do.

"Father, it's better to surrender, this battle cannot be fought." Fourth son Ah Fan persuaded.

Wu Ziju said: "If Dad surrenders, he will not be able to be the master of all barbarians. I don't know how many lands and people have been taken away by Han officials."

A Fan said: "Even if you can't be the great ghost lord of Baimandu, at least you can be the great ghost lord after you surrender. If you continue fighting like this, you won't even be able to save your life!"

"Big brother won't take revenge?" Jujiao asked.

Ah Fan asked, "How to take revenge?"

The two sons quarreled endlessly, which made Ju Meng even more irritable.

He already wanted to surrender a little bit now, but he was afraid that even if he surrendered, he would be killed by the Han officials.

Jumeng said to his fourth son, A Fan, "Do you dare to send messages to the Han soldiers? I don't feel relieved to send someone else."

Ah Fan replied, "Why don't you dare?"

Jumeng said: "You told the Han officials that I am willing to surrender, and I will send someone to pay tribute to the emperor of Song Dynasty to plead guilty. I don't need to be the great ghost lord of Baimandu, but at least let me be the big ghost lord. Pu Gulong As well as the [-] surrounding villages, let me rule, and I don't have to give up the rest of the land."

"Yes!" Ah Fan took the order and left.

In the afternoon of that day, Ah Fan brought only one entourage with him, so he bravely crossed the river by boat.

Yu Wenchang and Zhu Ming were notified and ordered not to shoot arrows.

When Ah Fan met, he knelt down and kowtowed: "My dad already knew his mistake, please forgive me, the eunuch."

Yuwen often questioned: "Why doesn't he dare to come and plead guilty?"

Ah Fan explained: "Abba knew he had committed a serious crime, and was afraid that the prefect would blame him, so he sent me here first."

Yuwen often said: "If you want to surrender, immediately order the barbarians to lay down their weapons, and Jumeng will come to my camp in person to ask for forgiveness."

A Fan said: "Father only needs Pugulong and the [-] surrounding villages, please let the prefect let us go and don't order to pursue. When my father leads the troops back to Pugulong, he will withdraw the warriors from the rest of the villages. The prefect can send troops Go and occupy those villages. Abba will also send people to pay tribute to the emperor and ask the emperor for forgiveness."

Yu Wenchang thought about it carefully: "You go back, I still need to discuss this matter."

Ah Fan knelt down and retreated, showing extreme humility.

When this person left, Yu Wenchang asked, "How do you see success?"

Zhu Ming laughed and said, "A cooked duck can make it fly?"

Yu Wenchang said: "The Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu have already suffered heavy losses, and they cannot be allowed to slump, otherwise the two forest barbarians will surely take the opportunity to rise. If one Sichuan barbarian in Qiongbu falls, but another two forest barbarians rise up, our battle is in vain. "

Zhu Ming said: "Of course we must let Qiongbu retain a certain amount of strength, but Jumeng must die! He is notorious among the barbarians and has a high prestige among the Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu. If he is allowed to live, let him continue to occupy In Pugulong and the surrounding fertile land, I am afraid that within ten years, this person will make a comeback again!"

Yu Wen often pondered silently.

Zhu Ming continued: "Besides, Jumeng may have surrendered falsely. He led his troops back in the name of surrender, and tried his best to meet the barbarians who attacked behind him. He also dropped a bunch of villages for us to take over and disperse our troops. He may not know when. I will kill you suddenly!"

Yu Wenchang nodded and said, "There is reason to worry about success."

Zhu Ming said: "Continue to stick to the time, Jumeng can't help but withdraw sooner or later. We can send hundreds of elite soldiers to start from the back mountain, go south by detour, and lie in ambush in the river valley. Once Jumeng retreats, the main force of our army will be Follow slowly, and when you get there, you can attack from both sides."

"This plan is feasible." Yuwen often followed good advice.

After another two days of waiting, Ju Meng couldn't get a reply from the Han people, so he finally made up his mind to withdraw his troops.

It is false to withdraw the troops, but it is true to lure the Han soldiers to cross the river.

This guy still wants to fight. Since he can't break through the Han army's village, he will pull the Han soldiers out to fight, and he is fighting a decisive battle in the open field.

Jumeng first dispatched two groups of elite soldiers to retreat and ambush at the place where they must go south.

If the Han soldiers came after them, they would all go out in ambush, and he would turn around with the main force to cover up the kill.

If the Han soldiers don't come after them, they will really withdraw their troops and go back to fight those rebellious barbarians.

Due to the low morale of the whole army, Ju Meng also organized a ghost sacrifice activity.

When retreating, Ju Meng personally led the headquarters to the rear to prevent the Han soldiers from coming, and the false retreat turned into a real defeat.

Standing on the top floor of the cage castle, Ju Ming observed carefully with his binoculars, and found that the barbarians had retreated slowly. He said with emotion: "This bandit chief is a real general, no wonder he can run rampant in barbarians."

Yuwen often borrowed a telescope to look at it for a while: "Are you still chasing it?"

"Definitely have to chase, just stick to it from a distance!" Zhu Ming said, "To go to Pugulong, we have to retreat for a hundred and fifty miles. I don't believe that he has not leaked his flaws."

After the main force of the barbarians had withdrawn several miles away, Zhu Ming ordered the whole army to cross the river, leaving only some barbarians to defend Luo Luolong.

The two sides retreated and chased, always maintaining a distance of six or seven miles.

For the mountains and valleys passing by in front, Zhu Ming sent a mountain search team to check, and ambushes were set up for defense.

Jumeng had no choice but to withdraw the ambush.

At the same time, like Zhu Ming, he dispatched elite soldiers to search the mountains, forcing Zhang Tong's ambush soldiers to cross the river and return to the east bank.

With such caution, the ambushes of both sides were useless.

However, on the way to retreat, they were followed by the enemy all the time, and the fierce soldiers were under great psychological pressure.

They rushed to kill them excitedly, and hundreds of horses were wiped out on the way. After many days of attacking, the attack was ineffective.

Feeling that the atmosphere was not right, Ju Meng dared not withdraw any more.

He chose a relatively dangerous village by the river, summoned the big and small ghost masters to give lectures, and pretended to be confident: "I am not withdrawing my troops this time, but luring the Han people here. Previously, the Han people stood firm and it was difficult for us to attack. Now the Han people have no The village can be defended, and I will go to the decisive battle tomorrow, I am the great ghost master of Baimandu, the ghosts and gods will bless me, the Han people will definitely lose the battle!"

The ghost masters, big and small, suddenly realized, and admired Ju Meng's wisdom.

But there are also some ghost masters who have other thoughts in their hearts.They were worried that their village would not be safe, and the barbarians would take advantage of the fire to loot in the south. If the Han people were not dealt with early, even if they won the battle, they would suffer heavy losses.

The benefits are huge, the losses are theirs.

Tanzhi Jumeng chose a dangerous place to camp, and Zhu Ming also stopped marching and camped five miles away from the enemy.

The two sides continued to consume, anyway, Zhu Ming was not in a hurry.

The longer the delay here, the more villages the barbarians will be able to capture, and the delay will also drag Ju Meng to make the army's morale unstable.

Sun Shu quietly met with a few Han bandits and rebels: "If you are fierce, you will be defeated. Tonight we will set fire to the village and run away if there is any trouble. After the fire starts, if the officers and soldiers take the opportunity to kill us, we will cooperate with the officers and soldiers to fight. If the officers and soldiers do not come , let’s go to the army, and setting the fire is considered meritorious service.”

(End of this chapter)