Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 277: A surprise attack on a snowy night

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. It is a place twenty miles outside Yafu Pass in Liaodong Town.

The vast wasteland was covered with palm-deep snow, obscuring the original color of the earth. Only some withered yellow grass stubbornly stretched out half from the snow, shivering in the cold wind.

A 200-man Great Zhou army was marching in the night.

Although the moon in the sky was bright and clear, dark clouds occasionally moved in. Whenever the dark clouds obscured the bright moon, the earth became pitch black and the team marching in the snow could no longer be seen.

More than ten miles ahead is a military fort that protrudes dozens of miles from the border town. There are seven such military forts in Liaodong Town.

These military forts were outposts of the Liaodong border town, with solid high walls, arrow loops, and beacon towers. Each fort housed 200 to 300 troops.

The purpose of these military forts was to serve as forward scouts for the Liaodong Town to scout out the enemy situation, discover the attacking movements of the Jurchen cavalry, and promptly report back to the border town on horseback, or light signal smoke.

When necessary, the various military forts would even combine their forces and move forward to block the enemy.

Since the beginning of winter, the Jurchen tribes have been running out of supplies. Although there are sufficient supplies in the border towns and ports, they are also heavily guarded. If you plunder these places, you will definitely pay a heavy price.

Therefore, the military forts at the three important passes in front of Liaodong Town became the main targets of looting by the Jurchens.

Because these military forts protrude from the border towns for dozens of miles, they must be well stocked with food and fodder, and the number of soldiers stationed there is only two or three hundred, so it would be much easier for the Jurchens to plunder.

If the Jurchens wanted to break into the interior of the country, it would be their top priority to completely remove the obstacles posed by these military forts.

In recent months, the Jurchen tribes and the Great Zhou army have been in a tug-of-war for the forward military forts.

However, the combat effectiveness of the surrounding army is not comparable to those garrison soldiers in Jinling who were defeated by dozens of Japanese ronin.

The border troops stationed in the military fort were all veterans of the Liaodong armies. They were a tough nut to crack even for the warlike Jurchen cavalry.

The Jurchens did capture two military forts, but the border troops stationed in the forts would burn the remaining food and supplies before retreating or dying in battle.

In the end, the Jurchens could only pick up some supplies that they did not have time to burn, just like picking up garbage. However, these things were just a drop in the bucket for them to survive the long and harsh winter.

……

This team, which was marching in the middle of the night, was heading to a military fort more than ten miles ahead to carry out routine rotation of guards and transport food and supplies.

The team consisted of two hundred cavalrymen, thirty musketeers, and four carts full of supplies.

The reason for marching at night was to reduce the risk of encountering Jurchen cavalry who would plunder supplies along the way.

The leader of these thirty firearms soldiers was a tall musketeer.

The other firearms soldiers were huddled on their horses to resist the biting cold of the northern night.

Only this tall captain sat straight on his horse, his eyes sparkling as he looked around from time to time, revealing a unique sense of strength.

At this time, a firearms soldier rode up to him and handed him a leather pot: "Shigui, you are standing there like this, and you are not afraid of being tired. Have a drink to relieve your fatigue."

The captain took the flask and took a big gulp, then coughed violently: "Jiang Xiaosi, that's alcohol! Aren't you afraid of being beaten by the army for carrying alcohol on the march?"

Jiang Xiaosi replied nonchalantly: "Come on, it's so cold, and we're marching at night. A sip of wine can save our lives. Guo Zhigui, you've just become the captain, and you're already showing off your power."

Guo Zhigui replied: "You think I want to be the captain? We have only been here for a few months, and most of the brothers we were close to are dead.

Even Captain Zheng is dead. He was the one who led me when I first joined the camp. If it weren’t for him, I would have been hacked to death by the Jurchens long ago.”

There was sadness in Guo Zhigui's voice, and Jiang Xiaosi stopped talking after hearing this.

That day, a Jurchen team of a thousand men attacked Yafu Pass, and the two armies faced off outside the city.

The Firearm Battalion had just completed two three-hit consecutive attacks when the cavalry of the left army was unable to withstand the charge of the Jurchen cavalry and actually retreated prematurely, causing the Firearm Battalion to encounter the charge of the Jurchen cavalry in advance.

More than one hundred brothers were killed in that battle. If it weren't for Lieutenant General Yafuguan who led the right cavalry to block the charge of the Jurchen cavalry, the losses of the Firearms Battalion would have been even greater.

It was also in that battle that the original Zheng team kicked Guo Zhigui when they were fighting in close combat with the Jurchens, allowing him to dodge the Jurchens' hacking in time, but he himself was killed tragically by the enemy's knife.

After the great battle, the number of Guo Zhigui's musketeers was reduced from 50 to more than 30, and they had not had time to replenish them. Jiang Xiaosi and Guo Zhigui were both from Shenjing, and they had always been good friends. Seeing that Guo Zhigui was in a low mood, he changed the subject and said:
"Shigui, when Captain Zheng was here, he said that among all the brothers in our team, you are the most talented soldier.

Didn’t you grow up in Rongguo Mansion? The Duke of Rongguo was a famous general. Wow, it is indeed a top-notch general family. Any one of them is a great figure…”

Guo Zhigui seemed to recall the days in Rongguo Mansion, his mother, and of course his foster brother, Master Cong Sanye.

"I am not a big shot. My Third Master is the real big shot."

"Is this the Jia Cong you mentioned? I've heard of him in Shenjing. He's the incarnation of the God of Literature and a top scholar. Zhigui, are you bragging? If you really know him, how can you be so affectionate to me, Third Master?"

"Why would I brag about this? When we get back to Shenjing, I'll take you to see him. You're really good at fighting, you're a real man."

……

At this moment, a dull vibration, which was almost imperceptible at first, came from afar at an extremely fast speed, gradually becoming a roar, and even the snow foam on the ground was shaking slightly.

Guo Zhigui and Jiang Xiaosi stopped talking at once, looked at each other, and expressions of horror appeared on their faces.

At this time, the dark clouds that obscured the bright moon were gently dispersing, illuminating the snowy field.

Under the clear and cold moonlight, four or five hundred steps away from them, a team of hundreds of Jurchen cavalrymen lit torches one by one, galloped through the snow, and quickly charged towards them!
Guo Zhigui stood on the saddle and took a quick look, then shouted:

"Enemy attack, line up to fight!"

They originally wanted to avoid being looted by the Jurchens by marching and transporting supplies at night, but they didn't expect to fail to do so.

The dark moon provided better cover for the Jurchens. They charged on horseback only when they were several hundred steps close to them, catching them off guard.

More than thirty musketeers, backed by a large cart, formed three attacking formations. Dozens of cavalrymen dismounted and provided cover in front of the musket formation with wooden shields in their hands.

But Guo Zhigui knew that thirty musketeers could not stop the charge of hundreds of Jurchen cavalry, and only three hundred musketeers could have a fighting chance.

This time, their team of musketeers did not come to confront hundreds of cavalrymen, but to change guard at the front fort.

Moreover, they had no archers to provide backup cover, and thirty musketeers could only delay the battle for a few breaths at most.

There were only two hundred cavalrymen accompanying the replacement, and they were not superior in numbers compared to the Jurchen cavalry.

Guo Zhigui rode his horse towards the captain who was in charge of the cavalry.

"Captain Xiong, the Jurchens have at least 400 men on horseback, and their strength far outnumbers ours. We are hard to defeat. I suggest you burn the food immediately, and then retreat to the fort with light equipment."

"What did you say? Burn the military rations. The military rations in the fort can only last for ten days at most. If we retreat into the fort, the number of people will double and the military rations can only last for five days! If we burn the rations, everyone will starve to death!"

"Captain Xiong, there is plenty of military rations at Yafu Pass. It only takes one day to transport the rations from there to the military fort.

Most of us will retreat to the nearest fort to lead the enemy away, and a few will return through the small roads to report the news. As long as the Jurchens cannot seize the military rations, we will win!"

Captain Xiong hesitated for a moment, and was also surprised that a small musketeer could have such quick wit and think of these things in a short moment.

Only a moment later, the sound of horse hooves in the distance became louder and louder. The Jurchen cavalry had already rushed to a distance of three hundred steps. The cold light reflected by the Jurchen scimitars could be seen under the torches!
Just let them rush to a distance of 200 steps.

It's too late even to burn the food.

But no one dared to act since the cavalry captain, the highest-ranking military officer, did not agree!

At this moment, Guo Zhigui rushed to a carriage, picked up a wooden barrel sealed with oilcloth from the carriage, tore open the oilcloth with force, and poured the liquid in the barrel onto the carriage.

Ever since the Jurchens looted the military fort, a barrel of tung oil was prepared on every carriage transporting food and fodder in case of emergency.

Captain Xiong was shocked by Guo Zhigui's action and shouted subconsciously: "Stop him!"

However, Guo Zhigui's action was so sudden that no one could stop him. Everyone only saw him throwing the torch in his hand towards the carriage.

With a slight bang, the oil fueled the fire, and the entire carriage was engulfed in flames in an instant, burning fiercely!

(End of this chapter)