Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 371 Shock in the Southwest

"Pattering..."

When the rain began, the gloomy sky enveloped the primitive mountainous areas, causing the roads to become muddy. At the same time, many people on the road were soaked in the rain.

In such weather, a team was marching slowly on a rugged road in the mountains.

Eight mountains, one water, and one farmland are words that later generations used to describe some mountainous provinces, but when it comes to Guizhou, it seems to be a compliment.

With less than half of Guizhou’s area being mountains and plains, it is destined to be a place with inconvenient transportation.

Even though the Ming army began to build official roads in the first year of Yongle, Guizhou's official roads were still narrow, with some places even less than two feet wide.

Such a road is considered a very good road condition for a family or even a village, but it is undoubtedly a nightmare for an army with thousands of cavalry and nearly 30,000 infantry and artillery, and also needs to pull field artillery...

Even though the rainy season has passed, the weather in Guizhou is still not good. Even in the Banshu area, which is hot in summer, the temperature dropped sharply and made people feel cold after entering late October.

Marching in such freezing rain conditions was extremely harsh conditions for both individuals and the entire army, but they had no way to stop.

The soldiers on the left and right put on his armor and changed his clothes, and placed the charcoal brazier under the table.

"Be careful!"

When the sound of armor came out, Mu Chun got off his horse and walked into the camp with Qu Neng, Qu Tao, Qu Yu and Mu Sheng wearing armor.

In this rainy and slippery weather, I would be thankful to be able to walk forty miles a day.

In order not to delay the war, they had no choice but to rush on the road in the rain. Fortunately, they were less than ten miles away from Tongzi Horse Station in front of them.

After everyone had changed their clothes, Mu Chun pointed the command pole at the southern pass that was the only connection to the Tongzi Horse Post Official Road and said:
"Yang Sheng led 20,000 local soldiers to break through the Yong'an horse post I deployed, and now he has led his troops to attack Loushanguan."

Of course, what worried Muchun the most was Guizhou's geographical problems. If a landslide occurred anywhere on the front and rear post roads, his 30,000 troops would be in trouble.

"Xilulu!"

Almost 90% of Guizhou is a mountainous area. Once rainfall occurs, it will inevitably be accompanied by landslides.

As early as when he stationed troops in Qijiang, he had already sent troops to build camps at various horse stations from Qijiang to Bozhou.

"There are 500 soldiers who retreated from Yong'an Mayi in Loushanguan, as well as 3,000 local garrison troops."

Mu Sheng spoke, but Mu Chun frowned and looked at him: "The gunpowder is wrapped in oil paper. As long as it is packed tightly, it will not get wet so quickly."

“It’s raining and people hold umbrellas, so why can’t artillery hold umbrellas?”

Finally, all the soldiers walked out of the mountain road in fear and came to a plateau dam that was not too wide.

Once there, they no longer have to worry about landslides and freezing rain. They just need to grit their teeth and persevere through the last ten miles to have a good rest.

The so-called Bazi refers to a plain. Because it is surrounded by mountains on all sides, it is called Bazi.

All the soldiers wore breastplates and raincoats and marched with their heads down in the rain.

"Put up a tent and put the artillery in it. I don't think I can use the artillery!"

"Winter has entered now, and the rain will gradually decrease soon. Don't get confused and take your time as you would in the past when fighting rebellions."

Every time the soldiers in front took a step forward, more teams followed closely behind.

Under such circumstances, the tramping of draft horses mixed with the dull clang of weapons and armor echoed along this official road stretching over the mountains.

"On such a rainy day, our artillery and matchlock guns are useless..."

Muchun's words won everyone's approval. Although Tongzi Mayi was only more than thirty miles away from Loushanguan, in the terrain of the southwest, thirty miles did not represent a flat road, but a rugged mountain road with ups and downs.

A wooden village with a circumference of no less than three miles has been erected in this small dam, and this is what Muchun had prepared in advance.

"Help me!"

"As for rain that can't light a fire, how can a living person be choked to death by urinating?"

Muchun ordered, and everyone bowed their hands and bowed after hearing the words, "Yes!"

On this narrow official road, the draft horses trudged hard on the muddy road.

"Although there are 3,500 people, 2,000 of them are garrison troops. It's okay to help them, but not to go to the battlefield."

They walked straight into the wooden house in the center of the camp, and after entering, they laid the map flat on the table.

"Qu Yu, Qu Tao, and Mu Sheng, you three are still the same as today, each leading the front, middle and rear armies. Be careful on the march and warn the brothers again not to make any noise."

In this case, he made preparations for the construction early, which saved the court a lot of effort.

The 30,000 troops and horses led by Muchun were brought by him from Yunnan. Even so, these troops and horses could only maintain a marching speed of sixty miles in the southwestern mountains on weekdays.

The artillery, which is not usually heavy, seems so heavy now. It not only needs two draft horses to pull it, but also needs the help of five or six soldiers from behind.

After Muchun said that, he also looked at Qu Neng: "Marquis Jianchang, tomorrow you will lead a thousand cavalry to scout forward for Tangqi."

Mu Chun took the coarse cloth from Mu Sheng's hand and wiped the rain from his hair and face, then raised his hands.

"The last general takes command!" Qu Neng was unruly, but he still admired Muchun and his son.

"Screw rustle..."

Muchun rode his horse to see the local area and knew that in a place like Guizhou, every slightly flat place had to be utilized. Therefore, in his opinion, the flat horse stations everywhere would be either market towns or county towns or health posts in the future.

Due to the rugged and narrow roads, the team of only 30,000 people stretched for more than ten miles.

"The army is temporarily resting at Tongzi Horse Station. If the rain does not get heavier, then we will continue to set off tomorrow and arrive at Loushanguan before midnight tonight!"

Seeing this, Muchun added a lot of things that needed attention, and then let the generals disperse.

As time passed, 30,000 troops entered Tongzi Horse Post, put on the dry clothes that Mu Chun had prepared here, and used firewood to cook a hot soup and rice to warm their bodies.

Traveling in the rain like this, some people naturally caught wind and cold, but Mu Chun had already prepared for this. The warehouse was filled with grain, medicinal materials, firewood, and dried ginger slices.

Not only that, he has even prepared the bamboo cage for baking clothes. He only needs to put the charcoal brazier in the middle of the bamboo cage, and then spread the clothes on the three-foot-high bamboo cage. This bamboo cage, which looks like a big bell, will be ready. The heat from the charcoal brazier can be used to dry clothes.

For a soldier, having a commander like Muchun is undoubtedly their luck. Others might not be so careful.

Because of Mu Chun's carefulness, when the army set off early the next morning, less than 500 people were left behind because they had caught wind and cold and had high fevers. The remaining nearly 30,000 people continued to march in the drizzle.

Maybe Mu Chun was right, but the drizzle only lasted for less than half an hour before dissipating.

Although the sky and the earth were gloomy, without the obstruction of the drizzle, the army could not help but speed up its march.

"Boom boom boom——"

When they were still ten miles away from Loushanguan, the subtle sound of artillery coming from the front was heard by Qu Neng, who was the vanguard.

"You go back and tell the Duke of Guizhou that the rebels are attacking the city. I will lead the sentry and search all the way."

"Yes!"

Qu Neng sat on the horse and gave orders to the Qianhu officials beside him. Then he shook the horse's reins and led more than a thousand cavalry to the south quickly.

They were riding Yunnan horses that were not tall but were good at climbing with loads. The saddles were tied with the reins of the Hequ war horses behind them, so as not to add any burden to the horses.

Because of this, when the distance of ten miles is crossed, the horses and their physical strength can still support the rush to the battlefield.

"Beep--"

"Reinforcements are coming!!!"

At this moment, there is no more exciting words in Lou Shanguan than these words.

The rebels led by Yang Sheng attacked Loushanguan for three days, but the generals guarding the pass could no longer withstand it. If Qu Neng and the others arrived two days later, Loushanguan might have been breached by the rebels.

"I am Jianchang Hou Quneng, open and close the door!"

When a thousand cavalry led by Qu Neng rushed into the rugged official road and came to the narrow valley behind Loushanguan Pass, the defenders of Loushanguan Pass quickly opened the door after confirming Qu Neng himself, allowing Qu Neng's cavalry to enter the pass.

"kill!!"

"Uuuuuu——"

The cry of killing rang out from the wall south of Loushanguan. Qu Neng did not rush to lead his troops into battle, but first observed the terrain of Loushanguan.

Loushanguan Pass is located on the backbone of the main vein of Dalou Mountain. It is a pass formed by dissolution along the fissures. There are large and small peaks on the east and west sides of the pass, towering into the clouds.

Loushanguan was originally under the jurisdiction of the Lou chieftain under the Yang chieftain of Bozhou, so the main defense focus was in the north.

After the military parade, the chieftain of the Lou family accepted the reform and returned to his hometown, so Loushanguan was taken over by the Ming army.

Gu Cheng, who was responsible for controlling Guizhou, added a mile of concrete city wall in the southern section to the original pass, and built a stepped six-layer platform on the outside.

Unfortunately, the generals stationed at Loushanguan were not good enough and did not make use of Gu Cheng's arrangements. Therefore, when Qu Neng arrived, he was very nervous.

"For the sake of not losing the pass, your crime will be forgiven!"

Qu Neng did not expect that the six-layer platform left by Gu Cheng would be completely thrown away by the guard in three days, but now that it was the time to hire people, the settlement of accounts had to wait until the settlement was completed.

"How many troops and horses are there at the pass?"

"Less than three thousand..." the guard responded. Qu Neng frowned and said, "Have the entire rebel army mobilized outside the city?"

"Wei Zeng, there are probably more than six thousand people..."

The guard replied anxiously, and sure enough, the next second he was greeted by Qu Neng's scolding: "Three thousand people were blocked in the city by six thousand people. What kind of soldiers did you lead?!"

"The last general deserves to die!" The guard bowed his head and admitted his mistake. Qu Neng snorted angrily: "Open the door and study hard!"

"Yes!" After Qu Neng's instructions, the guard quickly asked people to prepare to open the city gate.

At this moment, Qu Neng led all the cavalrymen to gather at the gate of Nancheng.

"open!"

As he spoke, the door of Nancheng opened instantly, and this sudden opening stunned the rebels who were about to push the car to hit the city gate.

Before they could recover, Qu Neng rushed out of the gate with an iron spear measuring four feet in his hand and riding a big food horse given by Zhu Gaoxu.

"Kill the barbarian!"

"kill!!!"

In just an instant, more than a thousand cavalry rushed out from the pass, and the barbarian soldiers who were still preparing to hit the city gate turned around and ran for their lives.

The cavalry was like a torrent, and a thousand cavalry launched an intense charge after rushing out of Loushanguan, making deafening shouts.

The Yang family's Yi soldiers who were caught off guard were penetrated before they could form a formation. They did not expect that cavalry would appear at Loushanguan, nor did they expect that Muchun would come so quickly.

"Kill the barbarians!!" Thousands of cavalrymen rose up in pursuit, roaring ferociously, making the fleeing barbarian soldiers look extremely embarrassed.

The road south of Loushanguan Pass was all downhill, and most of the 6,000 barbarian soldiers were killed and routed. Only Yang Gang, son of Yang Sheng, united the surrounding barbarian soldiers in time, formed a formation, and pressed forward step by step towards Qu Neng's cavalry.

They were wearing iron armor, holding rattan spears, and there were powerful crossbowmen behind them waiting for the opportunity.

Qu Neng turned his horse's head in time and gave a signal to the cavalry in the rear. He led the army to bypass Yang Gang's army formation of less than 3,000 men and continued to pursue the scattered Yi soldiers.

"Take steps step by step and slowly retreat to the camp!"

Yang Gang was only twenty years old, but he commanded the three thousand men without any flaws.

In his opinion, no matter how brave Qu Neng's cavalry were, they could not collide head-on with his own spear formation. It's just that Yang Gang may have forgotten that Qu Neng already knew the fighting style of their southwest chieftain.

Relying on the mobility of the cavalry, Qu Neng immediately switched to cavalry bows after fighting the defeated army in hand-to-hand combat, and led the cavalry to surround Yang Gang's troops in a circle.

Faced with the threat of cavalry archery, Yang Gang could only order the entire army to form a rattan formation on the spot, fearing that the gaps would be exposed and Qu Neng would lead his cavalry into the formation.

Seeing him standing ready, Qu Neng also raised his hand to signal the horsemen to rein in their horses.

They slowly and leisurely circled around Yang Gang's headquarters in this long and narrow valley. When Yang Gang saw this, he had people fire cannons.

He originally thought that this would scare off Qu Neng, but Qu Neng still calmly faced him and led his cavalry in a circle, just like a tiger examining its prey.

Time passed little by little, and the physical strength of Yang Gang's Yi soldiers also reached its limit.

A four-pound spear sounds like nothing, but if you hold the spear in the same position for half an hour, even brave people like Qu Neng, Zhu Gaoxu, and Ping An will feel weak in their arms, let alone ordinary people.

"Screw rustle..."

"Uuuuuu——"

Just when Qu Neng was about to take action, the rustling of armor and horns of an advancing army began to sound from the low slope south of Loushanguan.

Qu Neng took out his telescope and looked around. A team of no less than ten thousand people appeared almost two miles away.

Obviously, that was the main force led by Yang Sheng.

"Master Hou..."

A military attache asked Qu Neng nervously, but Qu Neng regarded Yang Gang's more than 10,000 people as insignificant and said contemptuously: "They have people, but we don't?"

"Uuuuuu——"

Almost confirming his words, when Yang Sheng led more than 10,000 main troops to relieve Yang Gang, Lou Shan closed the door and the horn sounded, which was the signal agreed between Qu Neng and the guard.

The horn sounded, which proved that Muchun was leading the main force.

"Beep-beep-"

Sure enough, when the familiar whistle sounded and when Yang Sheng led his army up the gentle slope, more than 10,000 former troops of the Yunnan Dusi Corps of the Ming Army also officially walked out of the pass.

They stepped out of the corridor and trotted to the left and right in an even formation.

Qu Neng did not urge him during this period. Instead, he led his cavalry and stared at Yang Gang's 3,000 men with eager eyes.

He didn't know that the leader of this army was Yang Gang, Yang Sheng's second son, but he knew that with a family-style governance like the Yang chieftain, the leader who could lead the army would definitely have the same relationship with the leader.

His move was to surround the spot and call for reinforcements.

Under his gaze, more than 10,000 Yi soldiers led by Yang Sheng pressed towards him step by step, with a distance of less than 200 steps.

At this time, the front army controlled by Qu Yu outside Loushang Pass completed their formation and came to support Qu Neng.

Nothing is more shocking than uniform movements, and there are two such armies in this long and narrow valley.

Although the Yang family of Bozhou was a chieftain, he was a solid Han Chinese, and his military training methods also kept pace with the times.

Since the last time he went to Nanjing to watch the military parade, the native official of Bozhou who returned to Bozhou reported to Yang Sheng the records of what he saw and heard in Nanjing.

After Yang Sheng learned about it, he immediately began to strictly control the army, because he knew that if the emperor showed force like this, he must be preparing to attack the north or the south.

Therefore, when Muchun began to mobilize troops and the chieftain of the Lou family returned to his hometown and handed over Loushanguan, he had already begun to secretly contact other small and medium-sized chieftains under his command to prepare for the army.

His fifteen thousand people are just his headquarters. There are more than 60 small and medium-sized chieftains of various sizes in the Bozhou territory who are mobilizing troops to Bozhou City.

He came to besiege Loushanguan just to test the power of the Ming army's artillery. For this reason, he also prepared a "shield" that he used to block the artillery.

"Le Le Che?"

When Yang Sheng's main formation rolled out vehicles that were as tall as one person and had devils painted on the fronts, Qu Neng was obviously stunned, but he quickly reacted.

"Are you going to use this to withstand field artillery?"

Qu Neng almost couldn't help but laugh. You must know that they have all tested the power of field artillery.

Although the field artillery is the smallest artillery among the Ming army's cannons, it can also penetrate a carriage filled with sand within a mile.

Even if Yang Sheng used hardwood to make the carriage, it could not withstand the iron cannonballs of the Ming army's artillery.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded, and Yang Sheng and Qu Yu ordered the entire army to attack almost at the same time.

The difference is that the Ming army has musketeers in the front and pikemen in the back.

Seeing that the distance between the two sides was less than a hundred steps, Qu Neng knew his own tactics and quickly turned his horse around and led his cavalry to retreat to the left and right wings of the formation.

Seeing Qu Neng's retreat, Yang Gang, who had been surrounded for a long time, breathed a sigh of relief. The entire army changed from a round rattan formation to a linear rattan formation, and waited to receive the headquarters' shield vehicles and the main force.

However, just as he was forming a line, Qu Yu was almost smiling: "These barbarian soldiers have already seen the military parade and thought that the shields in their hands can block the matchlock guns."

Qu Yu said as he watched his own line of infantry arrive less than 40 paces from Yang Gang's headquarters of 3,000 people.

"Fire arrows!"

Yang Gang gave the order, and crossbow arrows rained down like a sudden rain. The Ming army continued to advance after seeing this.

They protected their faces and moved forward. Although the arrows hurt their bodies, they did not hurt their flesh.

The swordsman went into battle and raised his shield to protect the musketeers. After covering their advance for ten steps, both sides finally removed their shields at a distance of twenty steps.

The difference is that Yang Gang's troops raised crossbows, while the Ming army raised matchlock guns.

"put!"

"Crack, crackle -"

The same sound was played, but the result was one-sided.

The Ming army, composed of four thousand musketeers composed of three rounds of volleys, fired at a distance of less than 20 steps. In just the blink of an eye, the barbarian soldiers fell down row after row with the speed of autumn rice.

"Raise your shield! Raise your shield!!"

Yang Gang's eyes widened, he couldn't believe that more than 20% of his soldiers fell down in an instant.

Not only him, but also the barbarian soldiers under his command.

Because of this, without his order, the shield player quickly raised the shield, as if to protect himself and the robe behind him.

"Crack, crackle -"

The continuous volley of guns and the volley of guns that instantly penetrated the shield made the barbarian soldiers shocked.

They had also fought against the Ming Army's Huomen Gun, but they had never seen this kind of non-stop shooting, let alone a firearm that could directly penetrate the shield.

Because there were too many fallen soldiers, the shield formation they formed was incomplete and unable to cover the entire army.

"Escape!"

"Escape!"

"You are not allowed to escape, the whole family who escapes will be used as slaves!!"

"Everyone, stop!"

"Asshole!!"

When the fight was only half over, Yang Gang's troops, who were able to hold on for more than half an hour under the watchful eye of more than a thousand cavalrymen under Qu Neng's command, were completely routed.

Naturally, Qu Neng would not let go of such an opportunity, and immediately rushed into battle to expand his victory.

"Quick! Go up and pick up Tsuna!"

Yang Sheng in this formation was almost as disbelieving as many of the barbarian soldiers. He knew very well the combat power and discipline of Yang Gang's three thousand barbarian soldiers, so facing everything in front of him, he even thought it was a dream.

"Kill Yi!!"

"Kill, kill, kill!"

The cavalry charged, and most of the more than a thousand barbarian soldiers who fled were harvested, and most of them escaped by chance and returned to Yang Sheng's main formation. But there is no doubt that they are all the lucky ones who were shot by the Ming army's 20-step platoon. As for the unfortunate group The number of people is close to two thousand.

After the four thousand Ming Army musketeers fired three rounds at a distance of twenty steps, Yang Sheng's three thousand men were left with only a little over a thousand. This is the charm of close range shooting.

"Father, withdraw!"

Just when Yang Sheng was still shocked that his three thousand men were defeated in less than half an hour, the embarrassed Yang Gang appeared in front of him, pulling his horse's reins to retreat.

"What happened? Tsuna!"

Yang Sheng, who had not seen the Ming army lining up their guns, was still questioning, but Yang Gang panicked and ordered the entire army to retreat step by step, and personally pulled Yang Sheng's horse to retreat.

"I will tell you when I get back, we have lost this battle, and if we don't leave, our entire army will be annihilated!"

Yang Gang saw with his own eyes the powerful shooting of the Ming army at close range. At this moment, he only knew that if they did not retreat, even the capital of negotiations with the Ming army would be ruined here.

"Chase……"

"Beep--"

At this moment, in the Ming army formation, Qu Yu saw the Yi soldiers retreating, and immediately wanted to continue the pursuit, but before he could take action, a whistle came from behind.

He looked back and saw Muchun's big banner.

Muchun seemed to have expected that Qu Neng and his son would pursue him, so he rushed to the front line with only a dozen military attachés and blew the wooden whistle from a distance.

"The whole army rests and recuperates, don't chase the poor bandits!"

Mu Chun rode his horse into the battle, stopped Qu Yu, and at the same time woke up Qu Neng who was not far away.

"Dong Guizhou, why?" Qu Yu's eyes turned red.

In his opinion, the more than 10,000 barbarian soldiers in front of him were meat in his bowl, and he could handle them as he pleased.

If we don't take advantage of this moment to destroy them, it will be difficult to fight them when they retreat to Bozhou City.

"Now that you have beaten the Yang family into a rogue bandit, you still have to go to the mountains to find the soldiers and horses of other small and medium-sized chieftains."

"Gather them in Bozhou City and exterminate them all. This will make it easier for our army to return to their homeland. Do you understand?"

Muchun was not greedy for military glory on the battlefield. He was thinking about how to solve the problem of the more than 60 little chieftains in Bozhou once and for all.

Hearing this, Qu Yu could only reluctantly put down the command flag in his hand...

Turning the horse's head, Muchun glanced at the whole army and said loudly: "Today's battle, the whole army is brave, and each person will be rewarded with three guans!"

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!!"

With just one word, the soldiers around him no longer wanted to pursue him. After all, they had traveled more than thirty miles and were already very tired.

Three dollars, which is almost their military salary for one and a half months. At this moment, all they have left is cheers for Muchun...

(End of this chapter)