Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 142: Crossing the Mountain to Drive North
"Sorry..."

At night, listening to the sound of horse hooves and various noises in his ears, Xiyang Ha still felt like he was surviving a disaster.

He was originally the one who was going to lead the team to Hulawen today, but because he was exhausted last night, he sent Shurha there.

But he didn't expect that due to a strange combination of circumstances, he had escaped the Ming army's interception and was still fine until now.

"It's a pity that too many members have been separated..."

He looked back at the people following him. Most of them were holding firewood and looked confused and frightened.

"Still too young." Xiyang Ha mocked these confused tribesmen. He didn't think what would happen if he lost this battle. After all, he had plundered the Ming Dynasty many times and only lost once.

Although the losses were somewhat heavy, fortunately all the important things were in Hu Lawen. As long as Hu Lawen's soldiers and horses were still there, he could still make a comeback.

No matter how powerful those Ming troops were, they couldn't possibly chase him as far as Hu Lawen.

When he thought of this, Xiyang Ha felt a little proud and was not depressed at all by a failure.

His optimism revived many people in the team.

After three hours of driving, they had already walked [-] miles north. As long as they continued walking for another three miles and then crossed a mountain road in Dahei Mountain, they would reach the northern foot of Dahei Mountain.

However, for the sake of safety, Xiyang Ha did not plan to take the mountain road, but continued northward along the tributary of the Songhua River.

Although we don't know why the Ming army appeared in the east, they must have come from the south, and the crossing speed was too slow.

The Ming army was very familiar with water routes, but was blind to land routes.

Xiyang Ha was complacent about the retreat route he had planned, and kept his head down as he continued to retreat north with his team.

As time passed, they finally arrived at the hilly area in the northern part of Daheishan along the river.

Relying on his familiarity with the terrain, Xiyang Ha rushed to a mountain col with nearly [-] tribesmen and [-] soldiers who were following him.

They blocked the entrance of the mountain pass with baggage trains and covered them with dead branches and leaves.

Braving the coldness of late autumn, the Xiyang Ha tribe members, who had been panicking for most of the night, finally got a chance to breathe.

For fear of being discovered by the pursuing Ming army, Xiyang Ha ordered everyone not to make fire. For this reason, many people could only soak the corn in cold water and eat it.

"Sleep for two hours and we'll continue our journey."

Looking at the large group of people sleeping, Xiyang Ha was still worried. After all, the Ming army this time was too abnormal. In the past, they marched by water, but this time they probably chose the land route, otherwise it would be impossible for him not to discover them.

"Amma, don't be so anxious, right?"

Xiyangha’s fourth son Tuchaha thought this seemed a bit frightening, but Xiyangha glared at him:
"There are thousands of Ming troops this time. Even if there are only a few hundred cavalry, they can catch up with us. We cannot rest for more than two hours."

"Yes..." Although Tuchaha felt that his Ama was making a fuss, he still lowered his head and made arrangements.

After that, Xiyang Ha was still worried about letting Tucha Ha put sentry riders outside. Because the sentry riders were limited, they could only send out a range of six miles.

This distance could not make Xiyang Ha feel safe at all, so he deliberately placed the remaining two thousand soldiers and horses under his command at the entrance of the mountain. Once there was any news, he could escape with the soldiers and horses. As for the old, weak, women and children It is not within his consideration range.

Without women and children, he could still rob other tribes to steal women and give birth to children, but without men, he would have no choice but to be annexed by the Udiha tribes in the east.

For two whole hours, Xiyang Ha woke up from time to time, and quickly fell into a deep sleep after confirming that everything was fine.

It wasn't until the soldiers began to be woken up one after another that Xiyang Ha struggled to get up with bloodshot eyes and ordered his troops to continue on their way.

Everyone complained about exhaustion and hunger, but the bitter cold environment outside the pass made no one dare to fall behind easily.

For them, if they encountered the Ming Army cavalry in the past, most of them would lose their lives.

Hunger and exhaustion are nothing compared to life.

The fire dragon soon appeared on the hills in the northern part of Dahei Mountain, stretching for several miles and making it very eye-catching in the dark night.

"Screw rustle..."

At the northern foot of Dahei Mountain, when the dry and falling leaves were swept away, a team even more embarrassed than Xiyang Ha and the others appeared in the forest at the northern foot.

"Turn off the engine! Turn off the engine!"

Seeing the fire dragon in the dark night, the Bohai Navy officers from hundreds of households who took the lead issued orders in a low voice as much as possible.

The people behind him did not dare to neglect and extinguished the flames one after another.

"Go and report to His Highness that we have found traces of the old slave!"

Baihuguan was anxious to explain. Upon seeing this, a cavalryman immediately handed the reins to someone else and went to the back of the team to look for Zhu Gaoxu.

What he didn't expect was that their team was no longer as long as when they started. He only ran for a dozen breaths, and after passing a hundred people, he saw Zhu Gaoxu and Yi Shiha walking at the back of the team.

"Your Highness, we have found traces of the old slave. Judging from the fire, there are at least thousands of them."

"Thousands?!" Yishiha, whose face was full of mud marks, looked at Zhu Gaoxu. Only the two of them knew how far the Bohai Navy had fallen behind.

The more than 30 miles of primitive mountain road left almost half of the soldiers behind, even Yi Shiha almost fell behind.

Before the people behind them caught up, they probably didn't even have 200 people here.

However, even in the face of such a situation, Zhu Gaoxu did not panic, but explained to Yi Shiha:

"Calling the number of people, I'll go to the front to see what's going on with the old slave."

"Yes!" Yi Shiha agreed, and Zhu Gaoxu also led Chi Huan towards the hillside.

Not long after, he took Chi Huan up the hillside and saw the fire dragon walking northward on the hilly valley in the dense forest of Daheishan in late autumn.

"Your Highness, there are at least thousands of people in this fire, and this is just what we saw."

The Baihu official who first discovered the fire said to Zhu Gaoxu with a guilty conscience, but Zhu Gaoxu was very calm and just glanced at the fire and said:

"These fires flickered on and off. Although they seemed to be blown by the wind, the old slave couldn't bring out so many kerosene torches."

"Look, the firelight on the left and right sides of this team is brighter, and the middle is dimmer. It seems that other things should be used to light the fire. Only the two sides are soldiers and horses, and the ones in the middle are old, weak, women and children."

After all, Zhu Gaoxu had the notes and guidance from Xu Da, Feng Sheng, and Fu Youde, and he knew very well how to attack the enemy at night, how to judge the ignition objects by firelight at night, and how to judge the structure of the enemy's troops.

The flames of kerosene torches are different from those of ordinary wood. The flames of wood are easily blown out. Only the flames of torches can be stopped in the breeze. Therefore, the reason why the fire in the middle of the team flickers on and off is because they All used are ordinary igniters.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu began to check the distance in the marching team where the fire was brighter.

As expected, those were the soldiers responsible for protection on both sides, and they were holding torches soaked in kerosene.

"Around two thousand..."

Just by looking at a word, Zhu Gaoxu knew how much power Xiyang Ha still had at hand.

Just when he understood it, Yi Shiha also ordered the team to go up the hill, squatting next to Zhu Gaoxu and bowing:

"Your Highness, there are six people out of 210, and four people out of 130 are missing."

Yi Shiha said that one-third of the forced march troops were left behind, which made the officials and flag officers around him look at Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu did not give orders hastily, but looked at Xiyang Ha's headquarters five or six miles away from them, and took another look at the sky.

"We are going east, and they have to take a detour to the Mudalan River, and follow the Mudalan River into the Azhemei Land (Xiao Xing'an Mountains) in the east."

"They don't dare to walk on the mountain road. It will take at least three hours to walk this way. We can wait for them at the northeastern foothills in one hour by crossing eastward."

He explained to the generals and ordered at the same time: "All brothers rest for an hour and wait for the brothers behind. After an hour, we will set off to the northeastern foothills of Dahei Mountain. Leave two people to gather the stragglers and wait for Commander Fu here."

"Yes!" Everyone nodded in a low voice, and then found a place to rest.

More than three hours of walking on the mountain road had worn the soles of everyone's feet to a blur. Even people who had been walking in the mountains and forests all year round couldn't bear it and began to take off their shoes and relax their legs.

Although Zhu Gaoxu had a ridiculously good physique, he was still made of flesh and blood. After finding a tree to lean against, he quickly fell asleep.

It's just that he felt that he hadn't slept for too long before he was woken up by someone shaking him.

Opening his eyes, Yi Shiha, whose eyes were bloodshot, reminded: "Your Highness, it's time for us to set off."

"Are the people behind following you?" Zhu Gaoxu rubbed his eyes.

"82 people followed, and 52 people were left behind."

As Yi Shiha explained, Zhu Gaoxu had no time to wait for them anymore, so he stood up and greeted: "Get ready to leave!"

Following his order, the Bohai Navy cavalry, which barely managed to gather more than 290 people, began to lead their horses on the road. Everyone kept stuffing dried fish, dried meat, fried beans and other food into their mouths on the way.

In the dark, a new round of forced march began again.

Only half an hour later, stragglers reappeared in the team, but this time Zhu Gaoxu could no longer take care of everyone. Even if he could only bring 100 people to stop Xiyang Ha, he was not worried.

Fu Rang should have captured a lot of animal power. As long as he is not pedantic, he will definitely lead people on draft horses to pursue in the direction of Xiyang Ha.

Zhu Gaoxu had just seen that Xiyang Ha and the others had not made any arrangements to clear up the enemy, which meant that as long as it didn't rain, Fu Rang could follow the trail and pursue Xiyang Ha.

Therefore, all they had to do was to block Xiyang Ha and the others and give Fu Rang and them time to catch up.

An hour gradually passed, and soon, Zhu Gaoxu and the others crossed the Dahei Mountain forest and arrived at the northeastern foothills of the Dahei Mountain.

After arriving here, Zhu Gaoxu asked all the brothers to rest for an hour and count at the same time.

A moment later, a new round of points results came into Zhu Gaoxu's hands.

Six people of 290 set out, but only eight people of 190 arrived successfully with the team, which was another one-third laggard rate.Zhu Gaoxu had already made full preparations for this. After all, the Bohai Navy was too tired today. The nearly forty miles of mountain road consumed almost all their energy.

Not only the people, but even the military horses were visibly tired. Some horses were even so tired that they couldn't even eat or drink beans or water.

Fortunately, after half an hour's rest, the stragglers began to catch up one after another, and the horses also began to eat and drink after resting.

During this period, Zhu Gaoxu had been waiting for the Xiyang Ha team to appear, and the sky began to slowly get brighter.

Taking advantage of the brightening sky, he briefly observed the terrain.

About three miles down from the foothills is a stretch of hills. The terrain is not flat. If Xiyangha encounters a surprise attack, he can build a train formation on some low hills for defense.

Although Zhu Gaoxu did not think that Xiyang Ha had the ability to form a formation to counterattack in a short period of time, tactically he gave Xiyang Ha the favorable location and people.

If Xiyang Ha forms a formation to counterattack, whether he can hold him back depends on whether the army's horsepower is sufficient and whether it can turn back and attack many times to consume Xiyang Ha's troops.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked back at Chi Huan, who was being taken care of by Yi Shiha.

As a sweaty horse, Chi Huan has always been a naughty, lively and active military horse, but now it stopped where it was, neither kicking nor doing anything else, just waiting quietly for Yishiha to feed him.

It was obviously exhausted, and so were the horses around it.

At a glance, Zhu Gaoxu saw that no horse was active at the moment. They were all bowing their heads to accept feeding from their masters.

The words "lack of horsepower" are almost written in their behavior, and this is the only thing that makes Zhu Gaoxu feel anxious so far.

"Come back later..."

Looking up at the gray sky, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but pray.

I don't know if his prayers were effective or because Xiyang Ha's troops were also exhausted. They arrived a full three-quarters of an hour later than the three hours Zhu Gaoxu expected.

It wasn't until the time came to three o'clock that Zhu Gaoxu watched them walk out from the west.

"Wake up the brothers." Zhu Gaoxu turned around and patted Yi Shiha who had fallen asleep unknowingly due to exhaustion.

"Yes!" Yishiha, who was woken up by the slap, was like a frightened bird. He responded before he heard Zhu Gaoxu's words.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu patted him on the shoulder: "Wake up the brothers and count them by the way."

"Slave, let's do it now." Yi Shiha walked out of his daze, then staggered up and went to wake up the group of Bohai Navy cavalry who had regained their energy in their sleep.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at his back and couldn't help but sigh, but he quickly adjusted his mood and turned around to continue looking at Xiyang Ha's team.

They extinguished their torches and walked from the west. They were still seven or eight miles away from a small river that stretched across the Daheishan Mountains and Azhemei.

Zhu Gaoxu watched helplessly as they sent out sentries and rode into the forest, already prepared to be discovered.

But they seemed to be too tired from coming all night, so they simply searched without going in-depth, thus missing the opportunity to meet Zhu Gaoxu and the others.

"Okay!" Looking at this scene, Zhu Gaoxu knew that this raid was probably stable. Xiyang Ha's troops were more vulnerable than he expected. No wonder they never dared to fight the Ming army head-on.

"Your Highness, the order has been made and all the brothers are here, but..."

Yi Shiha came up from behind, hesitating as he spoke. Zhu Gaoxu was not happy when he saw this: "The war is ahead, I don't want my mother-in-law."

Seeing what Zhu Gaoxu said, Yishiha could only grit his teeth and said: "Your Highness, six brothers' horses fell lame, and five brothers fell down and couldn't get on the horses."

"That means there are still 290 four people?" Zhu Gaoxu was not angry because of such non-combat attrition. He had already secured the combat strength of Xiyang Ha's troops.

"Yes, there are only 290 four people." Yishiha nodded with a heavy face, and the dozen or so officials and flag officers surrounding Zhu Gaoxu also expressed concern.

Looking at their appearance, Zhu Gaoxu laughed:

"290 four people are 290 four people. Our Bohai Navy is one to ten, and Xiyang Ha only has a thousand remnant bandits and thousands of old and weak."

"With your looks like this, do you think you can't defeat them?"

Zhu Gaoxu deliberately downsized the size of Xiyang Ha's troops to boost morale.

Hearing his words, Yi Shiha quickly understood what he meant, and immediately agreed: "That's right, what kind of combat power can a group of savages have? Even if we only kill five of them each, we can kill them all. What's more, Don’t tell me that Commander Fu will arrive soon with his brothers from the south!”

"Yes..." A Baihu official looked around and said bravely:
"The speed of the old slave's escape is not very fast. Commander Fu should not be far away from the old slave. As long as we delay the old slave, the war will end soon as Commander Fu arrives!"

"Yes, that's the reason..."

"What are you afraid of? That's military merit!"

"Ha ha……"

Everyone's words were a bit stiff, but Zhu Gaoxu did not reprimand them when he saw this, but stood up: "Armor-piercing, follow my orders to attack!"

"The last general takes orders..." All the generals bowed in unison, and all the soldiers who were filled with anger began to take action.

They led the horses down the hill to the col. When Zhu Gaoxu gave the order, everyone took off their saddles and helped each other dress.

The army horses, which had rested for more than an hour, had gained some energy. Even if they put on their vests, they would playfully kick the piles of dead leaves under their feet.

Everyone was ready, but at the first word, Zhu Gaoxu, who was the first to bear the brunt, put on his armor and mounted his horse.

He put the phoenix-winged helmet on the tether and put on a neck guard. Except for his hands and face, no inch of skin was exposed.

Not only him, but all the more than [-] riders in Bohai were like this.

Turning his head and looking at everyone, Zhu Gaoxu pulled out the [-]-pound-[-] iron gun stuck on the ground with one hand and pointed diagonally in the direction of the sunrise: "Attack!"

Following his order, more than [-] Bohai cavalry began to ride forward slowly outward.

The sound of horse hooves began to sound dull and dense, startling the birds in the forest.

The flying birds flew out. This scene was noticed by Xiyang Ha, who had been observing the surroundings. He immediately pointed at the col with a riding whip: "What is going on there, where is the sentry?!"

"Ama, the Sentinel Cavalry said they've seen it and everything is safe. Maybe it's an animal."

Tuchaha rode his horse forward to comfort Xiyangha, but his comfort had no effect because the dense sound of horse hooves could no longer be covered up at this moment.

"Go to the hill and form a formation with the baggage carts!"

Compared with Shuerha, who underestimated the enemy and was defeated, Xiyangha, who had fought with the Ming army for several years, was more experienced. He gave the order in time, and at the same time told Tuchaha: "Shoot Mingdy and call all the sentries back!"

"Yes!" Tuchaha didn't care about the fact that he was slapped in the face, and hurriedly took out the specially made hammer arrow and shot it into the sky.

A sharp sound spread as the arrow was shot. The impact of this sound was like cold water dripping into a boiling oil pan, and the already exhausted team instantly exploded.

They drove the cattle carriage to a low hill of seven or eight meters high more than a hundred steps to the north. Some of them were unable to retreat because they were carrying too many things, so they simply cut the rope of the cattle carriage with their knives and rode with their children and old people in their arms. They fled for their lives with their oxen and horses.

The team that stretched for several miles suddenly collapsed and ran away in disorder.

Faced with this situation, Xiyang Ha's eyes were split open. He had no time to curse these idiots, so he could only quickly turn his head and look at the mountain col where the birds were frightened.

Under his gaze, the Ming army cavalry wearing bright armor walked out of the dark mountain col under the slanting sunlight of sunrise.

Among their ranks, there were many hunting flags.

That flag was very familiar to Xiyang Ha, Tucha Ha and others. It was the flag they had burned the most during this period.

"Amma, it's that baby Bohai King from the south!"

"I know! Form a formation quickly!"

Tuchaha yelled at Xiyangha in fear. At this moment, Xiyangha, who had seen hundreds of Bohai Jingqi pouring out of the mountain col, was also heartbroken.

He was besieged and suppressed by the Ming army for many years, but the Ming army often traveled by water, and most of them were infantry, with only a few hundred cavalry.

According to the news brought back by the deserters yesterday, the Ming army only showed more than a hundred cavalry. Why did so many cavalry suddenly emerge now?
Xiyang Ha didn't have time to wonder about this question, because his instinct had already driven him to flee towards the hills.

Sitting on horseback, the more than two hundred Bohai Jingqi did not aim at the chaotic Xiyang Ha tribe, nor were they distracted by their scattered formations.

All of them looked at the tall figure in the army, waiting for his order.

Under the phoenix-winged helmet, Zhu Gaoxu walked forward slowly with Chi Huan with a cold face. He knew that he could harvest Xiyang Ha's tribe with a charge now, but he knew better that his own horse power could only launch a few confrontations and charges.

Precious horse power should not be used to deal with these old, weak, women and children. His target is Xiyang Ha and the thousands of soldiers and horses under his command.

"Divide ten small flags and surround them on the outside. Don't let them have the idea of ​​breaking out."

"The last general takes orders!"

Zhu Gaoxu ordered with a cold face, and Yishiha, who was wearing armor, also excitedly used the word "last general".

Not long after, more than a hundred riders, led by Yi Shiha, began to surround the low hill where tens of thousands of people gathered.

It was said that it was a siege, but in fact they were only responsible for the outer siege. The real deterrent to these tens of thousands of people was the hundreds of fine cavalry who followed Zhu Gaoxu on horseback.

"Your Highness, their vehicle formation is defective. Should we confront each other?"

A Baihu official couldn't hold his breath. He rode forward and took two or three steps forward to ask Zhu Gaoxu. However, Zhu Gaoxu was unmoved and just glanced at him:
"We only have 200 people. If we can't do it first, we won't do it first. Fu Rang and the others should be here soon."

When Zhu Gaoxu said this, he looked at the direction Xiyang Ha and the others came from. He had been paying attention to that direction, because since Xiyang Ha released the Ming Dy, the sentries released from all directions have returned, except for the direction they came from. The Sentinel Rider returns.

He didn't believe that Xiyang Ha didn't keep a sentry behind him. The reason why those sentries didn't come back was probably because they encountered Fu Rang and the others.

This news made Zhu Gaoxu even more confident in this battle. He knew that he did not need to do too much now. He only needed to wait until Fu Rang arrived, and that was the time to completely annihilate Xiyang Ha's troops.

Looking at the Jurchens gathered on the low hill like a black wave, Zhu Gaoxu tightened his grip on the Zhangliu iron gun in his hand...

(End of this chapter)