On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 405
In the first year of Daye (605 A.D.), on the 25th day of the first lunar month, in the afternoon, another fierce battle with thousands of people ended hastily.

Unlike before, the Sui army was not repulsed by Shishi, but was driven down the hillside by the Yan army after a hand-to-hand encounter with the defenders of Gaobiling.

Since Yang Su entered the Shuque Valley on the 22nd of the first lunar month, the Sui army was forced to attack the cottage day and night for three consecutive days due to food problems. Supplies are exhausted.

The Khitan cavalry general Da He Jinzhong watched the Sui army retreat, and then he dropped the steel knife in his hand with a sense of relief.

Dahe Jinzhong has the same surname as the current King of Khitan, Dahe Mohui.

In the early years, the chiefs of the eight tribes of Khitan each sent their children to Cui Che's side to serve as personal guards, and Dahe Jinzhong was one of them.

It's just that after seeing the prosperity of the Central Plains, Da He Jinzhong no longer wants to go back to the grassland.

This is also the common thought of Cui Che's [-] Khitan soldiers.

They had had enough of relying on the sky on the grassland, and they hoped to follow Cui Che and win a family business in the Central Plains.

Dahe Zhongzhong stared at a corpse at his feet. This was a cavalry with a very close relationship with him. The blood had already solidified, his eyes were wide open before death, and his face was distorted by the pain before death.

At some point, Li Han came behind Da He Jinzhong and sighed:

"Don't look at it, go back and rest first, we will dispose of the corpse."

Li Han's name sounds like a Han Chinese, but he is a Khitan cavalry general from the Pilier tribe. Like Dahe Zhongzhong, he is also from Cui Che's guard.

Because the mountain road is steep and difficult to walk, even though there are still 17 troops at the foot of the mountain, only a few thousand people can be dispatched at a time, and only a few hundred people at the front can fight hand-to-hand with the Yan army.

Although it can't be said that one man guards the gate, ten thousand men can't open it, but Mai Tiezhang and Li Jing can also divide the soldiers under their command into three parts, one for defense, one for standby, and one for rest.

Li Han's troops were on standby just now, and now that the Sui army has retreated, he must lead the troops to replace Da He and be loyal.

Dahe Jinzhong also knew how Li Han would dispose of the corpses. They would not waste energy digging pits to bury, but would set fire to burn the corpses of their comrades. As for the corpses left by the Sui army, they would stay. When attacking again, place it on a steep place to act as a falling rock.

"sorry to bother you."

Dahe Jinzhong nodded and said, he is exhausted now, and after saying goodbye to Li Han, Dahe Jinzhong took his troops back to the village to rest, and also went to the arsenal to receive brand new weapons for the soldiers.

There is an arsenal on the high wall. Although the arrows in it have been exhausted, there is still no shortage of weapons such as steel knives and spears.

Food has been prepared in the stockade long ago, the same as before, dry food and horse meat soup.

Before Li Jing raided Yang Yichen's cavalry camp at night, he got a lot of war horses. Since the forage on Gaobi Ridge could only supply their own horses, Li Jing killed all those war horses. Therefore, Gaobi Ridge now has at least no shortage of food.

Dahe Jinzhong took a bowl of horse meat soup, and after taking a few sips, he could smell the aroma of barbecue wafting from outside the camp.

He knew that it was Li Han who was burning the corpses of his subordinates, which made Da He Jinzhong lose his appetite.

But he could only endure the nausea. Only when his stomach was full would he have the strength to resist the Sui army's attack.

In comparison, Yan Jun still has the advantage.

Gaobiling is 1200 meters above sea level, maybe not so high relative to the altitude, but when the Sui army climbed up, which one was not out of breath.

However, the Yan army was able to wait for work with leisure, and used its physical strength to fight fiercely with the Sui army instead of climbing mountains.

After Dahe Jinzhong had a full stomach, he seized the time to sleep to restore his strength.

The Sui army attacked the mountain day and night, so there was no difference between day and night. If they could retreat to rest, they had to seize the time to catch up on sleep.

However, Da He had only slept for more than half an hour when he was loyal, and there was another shout of killing outside the cottage, and the Sui army launched a new round of offensive.

Dahe ignored it loyally and continued to sleep soundly.

This is what Li Jing warned them before, unless the Sui army entered the stronghold, no one is allowed to leave the camp without the order of him and Mai Tiezhang, and must rest in the tent.

Dahe is loyal and trusts Li Han, as well as another army that is on standby, ready to support Li Han at any time.

When another wave of the Sui army's offensive was repulsed, someone finally conveyed Mai Tiezhang's military order, ordering Dahe to be loyal and lead his troops to stand by, while Li Han's troops retreated to the cottage to rest.

The previously standby troops will take over from Li Han's troops, dispose of the corpses, and be responsible for resisting the next attack of the Sui army.

The three rotations arranged by Li Jing relieved the fatigue of the soldiers of the Yan army to the greatest extent. Therefore, even if Yang Su had to launch six or seven waves of offensives in a day, the soldiers of the Yan army could still survive.

Only physical and mental fatigue can be alleviated, but as waves of Sui troops attacked the mountain, the casualties of the Yan army also caused the defenders to gradually face a shortage of manpower.

On the sixth day of the Sui army's attack on the mountain, Li Jing had already been forced to change the three-part rotation to two-part rotation.

It stands to reason that by this time, the food in Yang Su's army should have bottomed out, but Yang Su put all his eggs in one basket. He began to order the killing of horses to satisfy hunger, and the Sui army's offensive became more rapid.

On the seventh day of the attack on the mountain, the so-called reserve rotation of the Yan army no longer existed. At this time, there were only less than a thousand soldiers left from the three thousand silver saddle Khitan straight soldiers.

Of course, the casualties of the Sui army were even more severe. There were no less than [-] soldiers lying dead on the mountain road.

The battle loss ratio close to 1:10 also shows the danger of Gaobiling.

It's just that Wei Xiaokuan's record of guarding Yubi and killing Gao Huan's [-] troops with thousands of defenders is still not the same.

The chief general of the defenders, Mai Tiezhang, has been fighting at the forefront, and he will only retreat when he is exhausted.

His bravery also inspired the soldiers of the Silver Saddle Khitan Straight.

It's just that although Mai Tiezhang killed hundreds of people, he was also seriously injured, with eight wounds to his body.

The accompanying military doctor looked at the eight wounds on Mai Tiezhang's body, one of which was deeply bone-deep, and persuaded him to take good care of his body, but Mai Tiezhang smiled and said:
"When a man joins the army, he should repay his kindness and righteousness. How can he shrink back because of a little flesh and blood."

In fact, Mai Tiezhang had already made up his mind to die. He knew better than anyone else the importance of Gao Biling to the battle in Hedong, and even Cui Che's struggle for world hegemony.

The eldest son of Mai Tiezhang, Mai Mengcai, married Cui Che's eldest daughter, Cui Wenhui. The second son, Mai Zhongcai, and the third son, Mai Jicai, were also Cui Che's cronies.

If Cui Che is defeated, his family will not be spared. If so, why should he be afraid of death.

　and also

　　
　
(End of this chapter)