Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 288: A brilliant plan wins over a thousand troops

Dong Shan couldn't stand Fanercha's sinister ambition the most. The two had been fighting for many years. How could he show weakness in front of the other party? He immediately ordered his cavalry to charge.

Li Manzhu, who was standing by, saw the two men brazenly sending out troops, and shook his head helplessly, muttering with some disdain: "A bunch of reckless men!"

However, the Great Zhou had only a thousand cavalrymen, and they had no backup and were outnumbered, so he did not take it seriously.

The Jurchen cavalry units of the Left and Right Guards charged at the 1,000 cavalry led by Liu Yongzheng from the left and right wings, and the situation on the battlefield immediately reversed.

The cavalry led by Liu Yongzheng collided with the Jurchen left and right guards. Although they charged left and right and fought with all their might, they soon showed that they were unable to keep up.

Liu Yongzheng was not keen on fighting, and before the Jurchen left and right cavalry completely broke through his cavalry formation.

He led the front cavalry team to become the rear team, ran in an arc to the left, barely escaped the encirclement of the Jurchen left and right cavalry guards, and quickly retreated towards the direction of the Yafu Pass city gate.

On the ridge on the left, Jia Cong saw Liu Yong commanding a thousand cavalrymen. Under the attack from two Jurchen cavalry guards, they moved back and forth in an orderly manner.

Under his command, the thousand cavalrymen were as good as his own arms, which opened Jia Cong's eyes and made him admire him in his heart. They said that the most famous general in the world is probably someone like Liu Yongzheng.

As Liu Yongzheng commanded a cavalry of a thousand men to retreat towards Yafu Pass, the Jurchen cavalry guards on the left and right followed closely behind and pursued them.

Dong Shan, Fanercha and others laughed triumphantly when they saw that the Zhou cavalry was so vulnerable that it retreated as soon as it came into contact with the two elite cavalry of the Jurchen guards.

Although Li Manzhu was smarter than the other two, the two cavalry guards had the advantage in manpower, and it was common sense that the Zhou army could not resist, so they did not take it seriously.

……

As the Jurchen left and right cavalry continued to pursue forward, the entire Jurchen Three Guards formation also moved forward rapidly, with people shouting, horses neighing, hooves sounding like thunder, and flags like clouds.

In the eyes of Dong Shan, Fanercha and others, victory seemed to be in sight. As long as they could annihilate this group of Zhou cavalry under the city, they would be able to deal a heavy blow to the morale of the troops defending Yafu Pass.

This time he brought several thousand infantrymen, a thousand auxiliary troops, and a large number of siege ladders and battering rams.

If they could take advantage of the situation and capture Yafu Pass, the mountains of food and supplies inside the pass would not only be enough to get them through the harsh winter safely, but would also greatly increase the strength of the Jurchen tribes.

Li Manzhu looked at Yafu Pass in the distance, his eyes becoming more and more profound.

He was more far-sighted and ambitious than Dong Shan and Fanercha, and he was concerned with more than just feeding the tribe.

If they could capture Yafu Pass, they would have torn a gap in the Liaodong border town of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Using Yafu Pass as a stronghold, they could even get a glimpse of Guanning City, an important town in Liaodong!

Li Manzhu is old and may stop in Guanning City, but he still has descendants. As long as a powerful hero appears, the iron hoof of the Jurchens will cover the world one day!
In Li Manzhu's eyes, Dong Shan and Fanercha were nothing more than short-sighted people who robbed houses to fill their stomachs.

But Li Manzhu cannot do it alone after all. At least for now, the goals of the three guards are the same, which is why he will join forces with Dong Shan and Fanercha.

……

At Yafu Pass, Liang Chengzong looked at the Jurchen formation that was constantly moving forward, and almost half of it had crossed the 800-step round stone.

The two elite Jurchen cavalry units closest to the Great Zhou cavalry were about to approach the 400-step round stone...

The densely packed archers on the city walls have begun to draw their bowstrings one by one...

Artillery instructor Madelen has asked the sergeants to load the sub-cannon into the barrel of the falconet...

On the left ridge, Jia Cong stared at the green headband on Ai Li's head. The headband fluttered in the wind, pointing to the east, which was the direction of Yafu Pass, the wind direction he hoped for.

Time passed by minute by minute, and Liu Yongzheng led a thousand cavalrymen to escape to the city, but did not enter the city. Instead, they turned their horses around and lined up in front of the city gate.

Facing the oncoming Jurchen cavalry, the entire Great Zhou cavalry of a thousand men exuded a high spirit of being ready to die and advancing courageously!
The two Jurchen cavalry guards would also cross the 400-step cobblestone path and gradually take off their shields from the saddles to prevent the rain of arrows from the top of the city walls.

At the same time, the entire Jurchen brigade in the distance crossed the 800-step round stone.

At this critical moment, on the city wall of Yafu Pass, there were Liang Chengzong, the general commander of Liaodong Town, the herald officer standing beside him, artillery instructor Madelun and others.

Their eyes were all looking towards the low mountain ridge a thousand steps away.

At this moment, a Saker Falcon with a snow-white body and black spots soared into the sky like an arrow from the ridge, quickly climbed to a high altitude, and let out a sharp eagle cry!

Almost everyone on the battlefield could see its wings flapping into the sky.

This was the signal that Jia Cong and Liang Chengzong had agreed on in advance! Liang Chengzong shouted to the messenger behind him: "Start!"

The herald shouted, "Fire the cannons, and throw the arrows three hundred steps!"

The two Jurchen cavalry guards who ran within three hundred steps were still knocked off their horses and men by a hail of arrows, even though they used their horse shields to defend themselves.

Dong Shan, Fanercha, Li Manzhu and others who were guarding the city heard a roar like the collapse of heaven and earth coming from the top of Yafu Pass.

……

This seemed even more terrifying than the sound of hundreds of muskets firing at the same time.

Explosions occurred one after another in the Jurchen formation. Due to the dense formation, each explosion took away more than a dozen lives in an instant and injured a considerable number of soldiers.

The Jurchen brigade of more than 6,000 people suddenly fell into chaos, while the deafening roar from the top of the city continued, and twenty-four artillery shells were fired in an instant!

Madelen's face was blackened by the smoke from the explosion, but he still commanded the soldiers of the artillery battalion in a hurried and orderly manner.

Under his command, the actions of adding powder, loading the chamber, and firing were carried out in an extremely efficient cycle.

According to the changes in the Jurchen formation, Madelen ran back and forth, fine-tuning the angle of the artillery to maximize the lethality of the Portuguese cannon.

At this moment, the huge potential of an artillery expert was fully utilized!
The eight Portuguese cannons fired non-stop at the Jurchen formation below the city, claiming countless lives.

The Zhou cavalrymen lined up under the city began to riot.
The war horses, which had never heard the loud noise of artillery fire, all became frightened and uneasy, and the knights on the horses tried their best to suppress and appease them.

The two Jurchen cavalry guards who had rushed to three hundred steps, while shooting arrows, heard violent explosions in the rear, heart-wrenching screams, and uncontrollable chaos.

They dared not continue the charge, so they turned their horses around and began to retreat.

Li Manzhu, who was well-informed in the battle formation, was the first to realize the situation. He shouted, "This is the artillery of the Western Barbarians. It is a hundred times more powerful than the musket. The entire army should retreat immediately!"

At this moment, the falconet guns on the top of the city had completed two rounds of 48 salvos, and the third round of salvos was beginning...

The entire Jurchen brigade was in chaos. The soldiers did not know their generals, and the generals did not know their soldiers. The only thing that could guide them in the direction of escape was the flag representing the leaders of the three guards, which was constantly retreating.

……

On the ridge, Ellie looked at the Jurchen formation below, which was littered with corpses that had been blown to pieces. Her face turned pale and a look of pity appeared in her eyes.

Jia Cong said, "They don't deserve sympathy. The Jurchens looted villages and towns and killed tens of thousands of Han people. Only blood debts paid with blood can make them remember!"

At this time, the Jurchen brigade at the foot of the mountain was retreating quickly, and was about to approach the round stone sign marked with 800 steps.

Under Jia Cong's command, the two catapults on the ridge shot many round black dots into the air, which landed accurately near the 800-step round stone mark.

These black spots explode violently when they land or before they land, and a cloud of red smoke floats in the air.

As those black dots were continuously thrown out by the catapult, they soon formed a red smoke wall at a distance of about 800 steps, like an invisible shield.

As the retreating Jurchen formation entered the red wall of smoke, the war horses let out mournful cries, jumped around wildly like crazy, and knocked the knights off their horses and trampled them to death.

As soon as the infantrymen came into contact with the red smoke, they found it difficult to open their eyes. They covered their mouths and noses, coughed and screamed violently, and some even fell to the ground and fainted.

The red smoke seemed to have a terrifying magical power. Although it was invisible and intangible, it had a powerful force that threw the retreating Jurchen formation into chaos.

The entire Jurchen formation actually stopped retreating. The Jurchens had never seen such strange smoke before and even thought it was a curse from the shaman god.

Many Jurchen tribal soldiers, frightened by the strange red smoke, retreated towards Yafu Pass again, exacerbating the chaos in the Jurchen formation!
……

On the city wall of Yafu Pass, many people saw red smoke rising in the distance, and the entire Jurchen formation miraculously stopped retreating.

The Portuguese artillery on the city wall seized the opportunity very tacitly and continued to pour fire on the stagnant and retreating Jurchen brigade.

On the left ridge, five hundred musketeers rushed out of the ridge, lined up at the predetermined positions that had been determined earlier, and fired at the Jurchen army below the ridge.

Another cavalry of 500 men, led by Jia Cong, rushed down the ridge like a tide...

(End of this chapter)