Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 159
The beacon fire at Yantai continues, and the Qiang and Hu soldiers arrive at the Han camp...

Jixi Fort, which had been reinforced many times by Zhu Gaoxu and almost became a pass, now became a veritable meat grinder.

The Red Army Tanma was attacking the city. They climbed up Lu Gong's chariot like ants swarming and jumped onto the horse road, waving blunt weapons in their hands and shouting words that the Ming army could not understand.

They didn't say they formed a formation, they just had the courage and the numerical advantage that was enough to overwhelm the Ming army.

"put!"

"Boom!!"

The eight artillery pieces once again burst into flames, killing many of the Tanma Red Army soldiers who tried to climb onto Lu Gong's car.

In response, countless red soldiers who were exploring horses drew their bows and arrows and fired arrows at the Ming army who was counterattacking on the female wall.

Sharp arrows whizzed by the ears, and soldiers fought hand-to-hand on the horse road. Screams were heard everywhere, and blood and flesh were flying everywhere.

A rainstorm of arrows flew past the armor, but most of them hit the armor, turning people into hedgehogs.

There were no more curse words. There were people all around, and everyone was red-eyed.

Splatters of blood were thrown in the air, and the brave soldiers fought back again and again. Even if they were dead, their souls still seemed to be roaring in the thick blood-stained fog.

The pair of blood-red eyes looked particularly fierce on the ferocious face, and the bloody smell floating in the air became the most powerful stimulant.

Smoke filled the air, corpses were strewn inside and outside the city, and rivers of blood flowed.

"Come to fight!"

On the horse road, Lin Su roared loudly, his face covered with blood. He didn't know if it was his own, the enemy's, or his comrades.

At this moment, he only knows one thing, that is, he must defend Jixi Fort with His Highness.

"Uh!"

Swinging the hammer seems to have become something that everyone on the city wall repeats mechanically.

People kept falling into the city from the horse path, and people kept falling on the horse path.

The horse path, less than two feet wide, was crowded with people at this moment.

Thousands of Hu soldiers swarmed in, climbing up ladders, and constantly occupying space on the Jixi Fort horse path.

Boiling water was poured out, causing burns and screams...

Hand-to-hand combat, sparks flying, life and death fight...

Armored soldiers versus armored soldiers, such a close match makes the battle line become anxious.

The scene of thousands of people fighting fiercely but not moving forward was shocking. Some Hu soldiers who could not get on the horse path began to aim their rifle bows at the Ming army's cheeks and shoot arrows in the face.

Similarly, the Ming troops who were unable to rush to the front of the battle also raised their bows and shot arrows.

"Boom!!"

The sound of artillery fires every other word, and each time it can take away dozens or even dozens of lives.

Even so, the number of Hu soldiers was still much greater than that of the Ming army. Many Ming soldiers fought until they were exhausted, and were pulled behind by their colleagues and replaced with others.

For a time, the entire line of defense was in danger...

"Den!"

In the hand-to-hand combat, the force transmitted caused Wang Yi's jaw to ache.

His personal martial arts and strength are not strong, and his appearance is very ordinary. Because he is very ordinary in all aspects, he has only been an official of hundreds of households for eight years.

Before Zhu Gaoxu came to Jilin City, even he, the official of hundreds of households, had inherited his father's generation, Yu Meng.

"Old Wang, step back!"

Someone stretched out his hand to pull Wang Yi back, but it was Hu Bing in front of him who was about to hit him with a weapon.

Everyone could see that Wang Yi was at the end of his strength, so they dragged him back again and again.

In this thick fog, Wang Yi gradually lost sight of the enemy troops on the way back, and could only hear the shouts of killing in his ears.

He got a chance to rest and leaned on a stone pier on the horse path, luxuriously recovering his strength.

Looking at his comrades who were still fighting in front, he glanced down at the cracked tiger's mouth. The blood soaked the coarse cloth wrapped around his hands, and his hands could not stop shaking.

Looking up, he glanced at the thick fog that had not dispersed around him, and seemed to think of his father in his memory.

"Dad, I became an official of Qianhu, and I am higher than your official..."

With a grin, Wang Yi ignored the pain in his hands and braced himself to rush to the front line.

"That's it!"

A big hand grabbed his shoulder. Wang Yi turned around and saw Zhu Gaoxu standing behind him.

At this moment, he put on his double armor again. Although Wang Yi was scarred, he still grinned: "Your Highness, don't worry, as long as there is one soldier alive, this Jixi Fort cannot be broken!"

"I know..." Zhu Gaoxu put on his phoenix-winged helmet, took out a piece of iron-faced armor and put it on his face.

Through the iron mask, Zhu Gaoxu continued to speak dullly: "Now, I am also a soldier!"

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu walked forward. Seeing this, Wang Yi also grabbed the pumpkin hammer thrown aside and followed him staggeringly.

"kill!"

"Mother, thief, come on! Shoot the arrow!"

In the thick fog, both sides cursed each other. Although each could not understand the other's language, the actions of their hands said everything.

A Bohai navy man tripped over the corpse. When the Hu soldiers standing in front of him saw this, they tried to smash the iron bones into the back of his head.

"roll!"

In the thick fog, a black shadow flashed past, instantly knocking the iron bone flower out of Hu Bing's hand.

For a moment, the Hu Bing's jaws burst open, and before he had time to call out, he looked up and saw Zhu Gaoxu, who was almost half his body taller than him.

Such a person suddenly appeared on the battlefield, even the experienced Tanma Red Army could not help but be surprised.

There was no time or space to react. Two maces were swung down, and while the bows were being drawn from left to right, the two red soldiers who were exploring horses fell down.

"Brothers! Let's pick up the stray dogs His Highness left behind and eat them!"

"Roar!!"

Wang Yi roared and swung the hammer to kill one of the Tanma Red Army soldiers who was seriously injured by Zhu Gaoxu.

Behind him, the Bohai Navy and Liaodong Army followed up, smashed another Tanma Red Army to death, and threw his body into the fort.

"Fire the arrow! Shoot the big guy first!"

Among the Tanma Red Army, a Baihu officer commanded the Tanma Red Army who could not fight on the front line, bent their bows and arrows, and shot at Zhu Gaoxu.

Dozens of arrows were shot in front of Zhu Gaoxu. Most of them were knocked away by the double armor, but a few of them were shot in the gaps in the outer armor and got stuck dangling.

This time, Zhu Gaoxu was smarter, and his visor blocked the only exposed skin on his front, while Wang Yi followed him with his soldiers to help him deal with the Hu soldiers who tried to sneak attack from multiple angles.

Without the worry of being attacked by surprise, all Zhu Gaoxu needs to do is to move forward.

With Wang Yi's cooperation, Zhu Gaoxu's physical exertion was not as great as yesterday, and he gradually adapted to this rhythm.

Soon, this section of the city wall began to counterattack. On the two-foot-wide horse road, the only ones who could fight Zhu Gaoxu head-on were the seven or eight Hu soldiers. With Wang Yi protecting both sides of him, all he had to face was Five or six people.

Even though his vision was blocked by wearing a visor, Zhu Gaoxu gradually began to enjoy it.

He counted the Tanma Red Army soldiers who fell under his mace, from two to five, then to ten, to twenty...

Gradually, he forgot the number and felt that the breath in his chest was being consumed crazily.

But at the second mark (10 minutes), his throat felt burning, and the mask became an obstacle to his breathing.

"Come again! Come all up!"

Zhu Gaoxu roared in his heart, and the mace in his hand began to become heavier.

"boom!!"

With one blow, Zhu Gaoxu knocked down a probing Red Army soldier and at the same time, an iron mace came out of his hand.

"He's out of strength!"

"Kill him!"

"He's tall, break his legs!"

Among the Red Army exploring horses, they saw that Zhu Gaoxu's movements were getting slower and slower. They finally got rid of their fear and turned the previous fear into the current motivation.

They attacked Zhu Gaoxu one after another, trying to take advantage of their short height to attack Zhu Gaoxu's lower three lanes.

"Protect Your Highness!"

Wang Yi's face was covered in blood, and he didn't know whether it was his own or the enemy's.

Even though he was exhausted, he still roared loudly and led his soldiers to protect Zhu Gaoxu.

"almost……"

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were not on the Tanma Red Army in front of him. His eyes were on the heavy fog, and what he wanted to see finally appeared in the fog.

"Get them off!"

When Lu Gong's car appeared, Zhu Gaoxu knew that there were not many Red Army Tanma left.

He grabbed the shield of a soldier beside him, held the shield in one hand and the mace in the other, and then rammed into the Tanma Red Army ahead.

When a being who was six feet long and weighed more than two hundred kilograms even with armor collided with the Red Army, who was no more than five feet long and weighed no more than a hundred kilograms, no position could stop the force.

In just an instant, several of the Tanma Red Army were knocked down by Zhu Gaoxu, and a hole was opened in their formation.

Their fall caused a chain reaction, causing the crowded formation to fall backwards.

"kill!"

Wang Yi seized the opportunity and led his brothers behind him to step on the fallen Tanma Red Army and begin to attack forward.

Hundreds of people trampled over them and deliberately avoided the place where Zhu Gaoxu fell.

"withdraw!"

Seeing that his own position was in chaos, Qianhu, the commander of the Tanma Red Army, had no choice but to issue a military order to retreat.

Immediately afterwards, the defeated Tanma Red Army began to retreat, and the Ming Army chased them until they saw them retreating down the city, and then they tried their best to knock down the siege tower with their prodding guns.

When the tall siege tower fell, all the Ming troops relaxed. They collapsed on this section of the horse road, lying in a mess, lying together with the corpses, but they no longer felt fear.

Zhu Gaoxu was also one of them. He took off his phoenix-winged helmet and face shield, breathing heavily.

Many brothers looked at him and finally smiled when they saw him gasping for air.

To be honest, if Zhu Gaoxu could maintain such intense methods without getting tired, then they would have to wonder if His Highness was the reincarnation of a god.

When he lay down, Zhu Gaoxu stood up holding on to the female wall.

Around him were countless corpses, almost filling the bridleway. "Get up and go to the next section!"

Zhu Gaoxu looked up to the sky tiredly and shouted this sentence, and then led more than a hundred soldiers to rush to support the remaining sections of the city wall.

Time passed little by little, and the heavy fog began to dissipate with the rise of the sun. Before the Qianhuguan, who was driven out of the city by Zhu Gaoxu and others, led the remaining troops to retreat back to the camp, the fog had already faded, and Harawu could gradually be seen. Know the current battlefield.

When he saw a group of his own troops withdrawing, his face turned pale.

But today's Jixi Fort is destined to give him a rejection.

Under his watch, groups of soldiers and horses were driven out of Jixi Fort, and they all retreated in defeat.

When the last group of soldiers and horses were driven out of Jixi Fort, the Qianhu officials who had retreated from the first group also fled back in confusion.

"Tell me, how did you go from victory to defeat in a quarter of an hour..."

Haragu looked at Tanma Red Army Qianhu who was kneeling on the ground, and Qianhu said bravely:

"There is a fierce general among the southerners. Our people can't move on the horse road. We really can't stop him..."

"Are you deceiving me?!" Hearing Qianhu's ridiculous words, Haragu raised his whip and was about to strike it down.

But at this moment, Tolu Huchaer, who was beside him, suddenly asked: "Is that man's weapon in your hand?"

"Yes!" Qianhu quickly held out the weapons he had picked up from the battlefield with both hands.

Upon seeing this, Haragu also suppressed his temper. After taking the iron mace, his expression softened slightly, but became even more ugly after a moment.

"This weighs at least ten kilograms. Someone who can use such a short-range weapon seems to be a strong general among the southerners. I don't know if he is Ping Bao'er or someone else."

Haragu and Toluhuchaer looked at the heavy mace and weighed it with their hands, and they couldn't help but feel a headache.

“People in the south call him ‘Your Highness’, but I don’t know what it means.”

Qianhu imitated His Highness's explanation in Mandarin, and the two people who heard this were also stunned.

Hu Bing didn't know Mandarin, so it was easy for him to speak it. They nobles were proficient in Mandarin.

Doesn't the "His Royal Highness" in Nanyin refer to the feudal king and the prince?

"He is Bohai King Zhu Gaoxu, the second son of Yan King Zhu Di."

Tulu Huchaer watched Haragu tell him what he knew. After hearing this, Haragu tightened his grip on the mace in his hand.

"I didn't expect that that lunatic could give birth to such a brave son."

Haragu picked up the mace and inspected it. He just inspected it with one hand for a moment, and then he felt his forearm sore. He really didn't know how Zhu Gaoxu used it to make a weapon.

"Calculate the casualties and order the army to rest for a day. Tomorrow we will see how many soldiers and horses the southerners have left."

Haragu did not order another counterattack. He had read the military manuals of the Central Plains and knew the principle of "strengthening one force and then losing three times to exhaustion."

Tuolu Huchaer hugged his chest and agreed, and then began to arrange the army to prepare to kill sheep and make rice.

Not only are they doing the same thing, the Ming army is also doing it.

Zhu Gaoxu returned to the gate tower. After taking off his armor, he felt that he had been reborn and felt so relaxed.

He leaned back in his chair, hungry.

Not long after, footsteps were heard outside the gatehouse, and Yishiha, covered in blood, walked into the gatehouse carrying a pot of mutton.

"Your Highness, please eat something to fill your stomach first. Rice will be ready soon."

Yishiha placed the pot of mutton in front of Zhu Gaoxu, which weighed several kilograms.

As soon as he saw the pot of mutton, Zhu Gaoxu subconsciously reached out his hand. Fortunately, he saw the blood on his hand, so he could only resist the exhaustion and got up and went to the corner to clean it.

When he came back, he stretched out his hand and started to feast. At the same time, he told Yi Shiha: "Sit down and eat together."

"My slave, I won't eat anymore. There are still things in the fort." Yi Shiha was also very tired. Although he was responsible for the second-line battlefield, there were more armored soldiers who fell off the city wall today than those who attacked the city yesterday.

After a brief bow, Yi Shiha turned around and left the gatehouse.

A quarter of an hour later, after Zhu Gaoxu finished eating, Lin Su and Wang Yi came out of the door with several officials from hundreds of households.

"Have you all eaten?" When Zhu Gaoxu saw everyone, he asked if they had eaten, but everyone's expressions were solemn. When Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he also realized that there were many casualties this morning.

"Your Highness, 130 and 250 brothers from Jilin and Liaodong were killed in the battle today, 470 and [-] were seriously injured, and [-] and [-] followers were also killed and injured..."

In just one day, the Ming army suffered more than 400 casualties, including nearly [-] armor soldiers.

"400 people..." Zhu Gaoxu was silent. Even after yesterday's battle, they never thought that nearly 400 people would be killed or injured in one day.

"In two days, we have suffered more than [-] casualties." Lin Su and others lowered their heads.

There are only three thousand soldiers in Jilin City, and one-sixth of them have been killed in the battle.

If they didn't have family behind them, I'm afraid they would have collapsed long ago.

"How many casualties did Hu soldiers have..." Zhu Gaoxu asked in a deep voice, and Wang Yi on the side also bowed and said: "I haven't calculated it yet, but it should be no less than 400, and as many as [-] people were killed by artillery."

Fortunately, Hu Bing's casualties gave Zhu Gaoxu a breath of relief.

Today's attack on the city was all done by armored soldiers. The death of more than [-] armored soldiers would probably make Haragu on the opposite side very uncomfortable.

After all, on the grasslands, even the Mongolian tribes in the early Ming Dynasty who relied on the Yuan Dynasty, with [-] armored cavalry, were a considerable force.

Even if the Tatar and Oara tribes are now merged, the number of armored soldiers they can pull out will only be [-] to [-].

For a tribe like Uliangha, it would be difficult for the entire army to have more than [-] soldiers.

One-tenth of the armored soldiers were killed or wounded, which was enough to drive Haragu crazy.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu told Yishuha and the others: "Today Harawu has killed and injured so many armored soldiers. Tomorrow they will either withdraw their troops or increase their offensive."

"They probably don't know that there are a thousand soldiers from Liaodong Dusi in Jilin City. This is an opportunity for us."

"If he presses the armored soldiers again tomorrow, they will be unable to bear the casualties and retreat after another day of fierce fighting."

"Instruct the servants to clean and repair the armor that has been stripped off the Hu soldiers in the past few days. Then all the able-bodied men put on armor and went to the city to garrison."

"As long as Jixi Fort is not broken, Haragu and the others won't be able to survive for long!"

Zhu Gaoxu is very confident because he understands the various tribes of Wuliangha and also understands the offensive and defensive forms.

Feng Sheng and Fu Youde told him that throughout the ages, the main method of attacking a city was siege, followed by attacking the heart, and finally a violent attack.

The reason why there are few examples of forceful attacks is because the casualties caused by forceful attacks are too great. As long as the advantage is great enough, the generals commanding the troops will not choose to attack by force.

Such an example can also be understood by using the saying in "The Art of War" of Sun Tzu: "Surround an enemy with ten, attack it with five, and divide it with ten. The enemy will be able to fight if there are fewer, and if the enemy is fewer, he will be able to escape. If not, he will be able to avoid it." .

This short sentence provides the best decision-making reference from the overall state and situation of competition. This is the value of "Sun Tzu's Art of War".

The situation that Haragu is facing now has begun to gradually lead to retreat.

Although there is an army outside the city that looks like [-] to [-] people, once the unarmored soldiers attack the city, they will suffer heavy casualties. Jixi Fort is well-defended, and even if the armored soldiers attack, it will be difficult to fall without several times the number of troops.

Today, Haragu's more than [-] armored soldiers failed to capture Jixi Fort and lost one-third of their troops.

Tomorrow, if he can find that the number of armored soldiers in Jixi Fort is not less than his, then he will consider retreating.

"Your Highness, will they continue the siege?"

"Yes, it would be bad if we were to besiege the city. We only have enough food for nineteen days."

Lin Su bowed and asked, and Wang Yi followed suit. Zhu Gaoxu was not worried about this, and explained:

"If they have enough food, they should choose to siege the city rather than attack by force."

"The fact that they chose to attack by force means that they felt that they did not have enough food and were not sure how much food we had, so they chose to attack by force."

"Now that the forceful attack has failed, the Hu soldiers are ready to retreat. As long as we continue to hold on, they will have to withdraw in a few days."

Zhu Gaoxu appeased everyone, which was also a disguised encouragement.

Hearing his words, Yi Shiha and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

In the past few days, they had left too many comrades, and if they continued, they were worried that the people below would collapse.

Since the establishment of Jilin City, it has never encountered such a powerful enemy, let alone experienced such heavy casualties.

Now that they have Zhu Gaoxu's answer, they know how to talk to the people below.

Thinking of this, they all turned sideways and looked outside the city, looking at the continuous fortresses.

"So many people have died, should we withdraw?"

When Zhu Gaoxu and others looked at the Uliangha camp, there was also a quarrel in Haliangha's tent.

After seeing the casualties of the Wengniute and Wuliangha tribes in the past two days, Haisanan Daxi of the Wuqiyete (Fuyuwei) tribe had already decided to retreat.

When he proposed this idea, the Wanhu, Qianhu and Taiji people in the Uziyet tribe also nodded and nodded, not wanting to continue to fight against Jixibao.

Not only them, but also many generals of the Ulliangha tribe did not want to continue to fight against Jixi Fort, especially those who had seen Zhu Gaoxu's power in today's battle.

Even though they had retreated, they still couldn't help but be afraid when they recalled Zhu Gaoxu's bravery.

They murmured in their hearts at the thought of continuing the fight and fighting people like Zhu Gaoxu.

"Today's failure is my problem."

When everyone was arguing, Haragu did not shirk responsibility. Instead, he admitted the problem and pointed out the problem:
"Their armored soldiers are more than we expected, and they have more people guarding the city than we expected."

With that said, Haragu threw out a sign, and everyone looked at it.

[Liaodong Dusi Shenyang Zhong escorts Zuojun Qianhujia...]

"Why are Liaodong's soldiers and horses here?"

Haisanan, who picked up the token, looked at Harawu with confusion, but Harawu also shook his head and said:

"I don't know either, but among the brands picked up on the battlefield, the only brands are those of Qianhu and Jilinwei."

"The southerners have more soldiers and horses than we expected. Even if we add a thousand soldiers and horses from Liaodong, it will be enough for us to drink a pot."

"Therefore, I have decided to withdraw our troops tomorrow, but on the way, we will attack six cities so that we will not return without success."

"Okay!" After hearing Haragu's words, everyone rushed to agree.

At this moment, they no longer try to eat Jilin City, because the meat of Jilin City has broken their teeth.

In comparison, the six cities in the north are easier to capture, and you can also gain a lot of harvest.

"In that case, let's all retreat."

Haragu waved his hand, and upon seeing this, many nobles returned the favor with their arms crossed, and then withdrew from Haragu's tent.

Tulu Huchaer was also ready to leave, but before he could take a few steps, Haragu grabbed his hand.

"Huh?" Tolu Huchaer turned around in confusion, only to see Harawu's face gloomy:

"Command to all my troops, the whole army will attack Hadaling tonight at 1 o'clock!"

(End of this chapter)