Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 377 0372 [Surprise Attack Battle]

From Jinshui Town to surprise Huaishu Pass, the straight-line distance is less than twenty miles.

But in the winding mountains, it takes thirty miles to reach it.

Han Shizhong was afraid of revealing his whereabouts, so he didn't dare to follow the mountains in the south. He had to go around the hills in the north. The whole journey would take sixty or seventy miles.

At the beginning, he still walked around day and night to avoid being discovered by the mountain people, but gradually he felt that it was unnecessary.

"Fifth Han, the hut in front is empty again, not to mention looking for a person, not even a chicken." The whistle came back and reported.

Han Shizhong's heart sank when he heard it: "It's hard to beat."

The cottages in Huaishuguan and Jinshui Town are all built against the mountains.On the north side of the high mountains, there is a hilly area, and villages are distributed in various mountain nests.

Han Shizhong walked all the way, and the village was completely empty.

These villagers would definitely not move all the way to the county seat, and most of them retreated behind Huaishu Pass.The old, the weak, women and children can help transport supplies, while the young and old are temporarily recruited to guard the customs.

There are probably quite a few defenders at Huaishu Pass!
"Eat first." Han Shizhong felt his head hurt.

But I saw that the soldiers under my command had broken off a lot of tender corn cobs, and they were about to light a fire and roast them to eat.

Han Shizhong quickly reprimanded: "No fire is allowed!"

An officer said with a smile: "The farmers in the nearby villages have long since fled. Even if we burn the mountain, no one will notice."

"No fire!" Han Shizhong repeated the order.

Except for the soldiers of the headquarters, no one dumped him at all, and they continued to hit Flint.

Han Shizhong brought 2500 soldiers, only 500 of them were his own soldiers, and the rest came from the generals of Yanyan Road.There are four officials with the same rank as Han Shizhong, and one of them is even Liu Guangshi's general.

How can Han Shizhong be restrained?

Seeing that something bad is about to happen, Han Shizhong put on a smiling face, and hooked shoulders with Liu Guangshi's generals: "Brother Feng, I will feel wronged these few days, and when I make great achievements and go to Tokyo, my old Han invites you to eat in Fanlou." liquor."

Feng Chong really put down the scythe: "With your little money, can you buy a bowl of wine in Fan Lou?"

Han Shizhong said with a smile: "Fan Lou couldn't afford to go, so I looked for a good place outside the city. Regardless of whether it's in the city or outside the city, it's Tokyo after all. Let the girls from Tokyo come to accompany Brother Feng."

"Forget it, it's for your Han Wu's sake." Feng Chong took out the dry food and gnawed it.

With Feng Chong taking the lead, the other officers had to be obedient, put away their scythes and stop messing around.

Liu Yanqing's army set off from Fuyan Road in late May, and stayed in Yulu County for a while.It is now the end of August in the lunar calendar, the tender corn is getting old, and the rice in the south has already been harvested.

Feng Chong studied the tender corn cobs: "This stuff tastes really good. I ate two of them a few days ago."

Another officer laughed and said, "It's delicious when it's tender, but it's rough when it's old."

Feng Chong muttered: "Can we grow this in Shaanxi?"

The soldier next to him said: "There are people in Yulu County. When I entered the mountain, I saw a lot of cornfields."

"Someone in Tokyo also breeds this, and the old Zhu thief brought it here." Another person said.

Han Shizhong hadn't read Ju Ming's call to action. He was fighting in Hebei at that time.When they returned after a big defeat, the imperial court had already ordered that whoever dared to hide or spread the proclamation would be executed.

But Han Shizhong has also heard about the reputation of Zhu's father and son.

He knew that Zhu Guoxiang had brought back corn and sweet potato seeds from overseas, and he also knew that it was Zhu Ming who invented the leveling gun.

The soldiers chatted, talking about everything from corn to flattening guns.

"Since the Zhu thief can build flat cannons, he can build even bigger cannon carts. If he can throw iron balls several miles away, how big the cannon carts must be."

"I'm afraid there are several floors high."

"Wouldn't there be pagoda tree pass?"

"We are a surprise attack, we are not afraid, no matter how big the cannon is, it is useless."

"What do the two thieves, Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu, look like? Well-behaved officials don't want to be officials, but they rebelled. If we can be officials, we will have to wake up from our dreams."

"I heard that the little Zhu thief is eight feet long, capable of both civil and martial arts, and can open a five-stone bow."

"Do you believe in opening five-stone bows?"

"Otherwise, why would you take down Sichuan in half a year?"

"..."

The more Han Shizhong listened, the more unhappy he became, and he scolded: "Don't talk nonsense, and go on the road after eating!"

These guys are extremely poor in discipline, and Han Shizhong's one is better.

But it's so good that it's limited, and if you get mixed up for a long time, even the best military discipline will be misleading.

Continue to march in ambush, get a full sleep on the way, and find a bamboo forest to cut bamboo to make a flying ladder.

Han Shizhong sent a few spies to inquire about the situation of Huaishu Pass, and came back when he saw Huaishu Pass from a distance—mainly to determine the specific location.

They waited until it was dark, carrying the flying ladder on their way, successfully avoiding the watchtower of the nearby rebels.

The pagoda tree pass is not on the mountain, but at the foot of the mountain.

There is a small river to the west, mountains to the south, and mountains to the east. Only the north is easy to attack.

Han Shizhong sent 500 people to climb the mountain to the east and go to the side, and led 2000 people to approach Guancheng in the dark.

Everyone held bamboo branches in their mouths to avoid making noise.

After waiting for another half an hour, Han Shizhong ordered the main force to attack when he felt that the friendly troops who had surrounded him had already climbed up the mountain.

"Ok!"

"what!"

They walked forward dozens of steps in the dark, and suddenly made continuous sounds.

Some people groaned, some screamed.

The gatekeeper of the locust tree is so fucking disgusting. A lot of traps have been dug outside the gate, and there are many spikes buried in the pits.

His whereabouts had been exposed, so Han Shizhong had no choice but to shout: "If you encounter a trap, take the flying ladder and climb over it!"

"Dang Dang Dang Dang!"

The bell in Guancheng was ringing loudly, and soon there were more and more torches on the top of the city, and then there were continuous shouts.

Han Shizhong yelled: "The enemy army is in chaos, take advantage of the chaos and attack the top of the city!"

Han Shizhong and his three subordinates rushed forward with a flying ladder on their shoulders.

Suddenly he stepped on the ground with both feet, subconsciously grasped the ladder, and half of his body fell into the pit, but he didn't fall in because he was holding on to the ladder to borrow strength.

Climbing out with a cold vest, Han Shizhong heard the screams one after another, and shouted angrily: "Blow the horn, retreat!"

This battle can't be fought, the outermost part is just scattered pits, and the inside is directly connected to the ditch, and the bottom of the ditch is full of spikes.

Han Shizhong even suspected that after crossing this ditch, there might still be a ditch in it.

A surprise attack is no longer possible. Either wait for dawn to attack, or go back in despair.

……

The guard here is called Shen Wei, who was not brought by Yang Zhi, nor does he belong to Daming Village, but a refugee who escaped from Shaanxi.

Shen Wei's name is unknown, and his father and brother were drafted as town soldiers and died on the battlefield of conquering Xixia.

A few years ago, in the catastrophe in Shaanxi, he was drafted to serve as a soldier, and escaped because he couldn't bear the oppression of the chief.After returning to his hometown, he found that his old mother had died and his younger sister had married into a neighboring village. Both villages fell into famine.

Shen Wei simply took his wife and children, younger brother, sister-in-law, and his brother-in-law's family, as well as several deserter families from his hometown, a total of more than 60 people went into the mountains to become bandits.

But there are too many bandits in the mountains, and there are not enough fat sheep passing by to slaughter.

He heard that there was a smuggler named Zhang Guangdao who often brought refugees back to Yangzhou for resettlement, so he also planned to go there to seek livelihood.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Guangdao started to train soldiers, and he didn't come to smuggle for more than half a year.

Shen Wei didn't wait any longer, and took people to join him. After many inquiries, he finally came to Jintan Village, and gathered some bandits along the way.

After hearing the news, Zhu Guoxiang personally received them and arranged for them to farm in Jintan Village, where they practiced with Li Jinyi while farming.

When the Xingyuan Mansion was attacked, Shen Wei also participated, but he was just a leader.

Because of the expansion of the army, Shen Wei was promoted quickly and became a general commanding 3000 people.In addition to the old ministry from Shaanxi, he also compiled many Yangzhou mountain people into it.

It was very boring to be stationed at Huaishuguan, especially when the peasants from the northern hilly area fled, a large number of non-combatants gathered together and had nothing to do.

Anyway, being idle is idle, so Shen Wei asked the peasants to dig trenches and traps.

It has been more than two months of digging, and there are many potholes around Huaishu Pass, and Han Shizhong was unlucky to bump into them.

After daybreak, Shen Wei stood on the pass, observing the enemy on the opposite side with binoculars.

Han Shizhong was also observing Huaishuguan. Some of the wounded from last night were rescued, and he tore his clothes and searched for herbs for simple bandages.

Feng Chong was dejected: "Han Wu, withdraw the troops, the surprise attack failed."

Han Shizhong looked around and found that the morale of the whole army was low.

The 2500-strong army suffered hundreds of casualties last night, and was far away from the main force in the face of danger. No matter how elite they were, they would be depressed.

"Let's withdraw." Han Shizhong said helplessly.

"The city is closed!"

At this moment, a soldier shouted.

Yang Zhi was very shy when facing the Western Army, but Shen Wei was a fool.

His father and brother were soldiers of the Western Army, and he himself had served in the Western Army, so he knew what the Western Army was all about.

Moreover, I haven't seen the enemy here, and finally encountered it, how can I let the enemy run away?How can he do meritorious service if he doesn't fight?

Han Shizhong was overjoyed when he saw the thieves leaving the pass on their own initiative.

The two generals who were eager to make meritorious deeds were tough outside Huaishu Pass.

Han Shizhong said to the generals of the various ministries: "The thief will be a fool. If there is a danger and he will not guard it, he will come out to fight. Boys, today is the day to kill the thief and make meritorious deeds!"

Shen Wei's army has no rattan armor or iron armor, only leather armor and paper armor.

Even the squad leader's bows and arrows are all clay bows, with an effective range of only a dozen meters.

artillery?Stop talking nonsense!
The equipment was very bad, and Yang Zhi repeatedly warned them not to hold on.

Han Shizhong was afraid of scaring the bandits back to Guancheng, so he took the initiative to retreat to the hilly area to line up.

Shen Wei led his troops through the passage between the trenches and pits, and slowly marched towards the Western Army after forming an array.

The strength of the two sides is equal, and there is no complicated formation. They are all arranged in a small square formation, and their respective commanders lead the main force to press the formation.

The advance of the rebels was slow because of the rough terrain.

The squad leader's bamboo whistle sounded one after another, restraining the formation at any time.

Shen Wei sent 1000 people to fight, and reiterated the military order: "The team retreats, kill the team leader. If the team leader dies in battle, kill the whole team, and the whole team will be exonerated if they don't retreat!"

However, Han Shizhong asked the archers to step forward, shoot long-range first, and then let the melee soldiers go up when the enemy came.

This is the habitual operation of the Western Army. Even in normal training, the archers practice the most, and the training of melee soldiers is negligible.

Including cavalry, they also specialize in cavalry and archery, not much training in formation and charge.

No matter how bad Zhu Ming's Tengxiang Army is, if they encounter the cavalry of the Western Army, the Tengxiang Army will fight hard, and the cavalry of the Western Army may not dare to fight.The path dependence has been formed. The cavalry of the Western Army only wants to shoot arrows from a distance. They will not charge if the enemy is not scattered, and they will not charge if the enemy's formation is not disordered. Letting their cavalry hedge is even more dreamy.

My life!

Rewards and punishments are unknown, and food and payment are deducted, which will lead to such consequences.

Many civil and military officials complain about this ill, but they can't change it at all.

"Raise your shield!"

Facing the archers of the Western Army, the rattan players and long card players of the Rebel Army raised their shields one after another.

The formation of the squad also shrunk as much as possible, and they hid behind the shield soldiers shortly. The wolf soldiers raised their wolf soldiers and prepared to wave them indiscriminately.

(End of this chapter)