Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 531
The Qing army's cottage was built on the top of a two-hundred-foot-high mountain. The trees on the hillside were like the Ming army's big village. They were cut down to prevent the Ming army from attacking and clear the shooting area.

In July, the red sun was scorching, and there was no wind blowing on the mountain. The banners on the wall of the village were drooping listlessly. The Qing soldiers on the wall and the Ming army arrayed at the foot of the mountain did not make a sound. The cicadas chirped in bursts, filling the air with restlessness.

The Ming army formation was divided into two parts. Gao Yigong led the loyal army and a chieftain army to monitor Wanxian City to prevent the Qing soldiers from rushing out suddenly.

The other was lined up at the foot of the mountain, and the soldiers stood like a forest against the scorching sun.Fortunately, most of the Ming army were from the south, and the middle army was mostly from Guangdong. In addition, the Ming army was equipped with mostly southern cloth armor, which was far more resistant to the heat than the Qing army.

On the wall of the stronghold, the Qing soldiers were already sweating profusely just standing there. The northerners couldn’t bear the extreme heat in the south, so they had to go back to Beijing almost every year to escape the heat. They hadn’t adapted to it after three years in customs.

The 2000 Qing soldiers and Li Guoying's [-] men are okay. They originally belonged to the left town of Wuchang, and their armor was mainly cloth armor. Immediately, it's not enough not to wear it, and each of them can only grit their teeth and endure it.

During the dog days, the soldiers couldn't stand just standing in the sun for an hour. Wang Yan stood on the building car and saw that the army had finished forming, so he ordered: "It's time to start!"

Hearing the sound of the flags and drums behind him, he beat the drum with his bare upper body. The sun shone on the drummer's bronze-colored and strong back. The more urgent the beating, the more exciting the sound.

"The majestic man will restore the rivers and mountains!"

The sound of war drums broke the tranquility of the battlefield. Following the sound of war drums, tens of thousands of loyal troops raised their spears, drew out their sabers, pointed them at the sky, and shouted in unison, roaring out the restlessness in their hearts. Overwhelming murderous intent.

The Five Zhongjun roared three times in a row, while the Western Army in the front held their weapons tightly and remained silent. Li Dingguo looked back at the Ming Army behind him, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

For a centaur to be able to display such an aura, it does not come from training. It must be due to the vigor and determination to win after fighting again and again on the battlefield.

The white-armed soldiers back then, as well as Cao Wenzhao's men and horses, could have such an aura. It is unexpected that since the Manchu Qing invaded the south, since the Ming court has launched such a strong army, the era of the Western Army has really come to an end.

At this time, Wang Yan looked coldly at the wall of the village on the top of the mountain in the Chinese military watch car. The wall was full of Qing army archers. Before them, the Qing army built a simple low wall. Shields and long spears stood there to prevent the Ming army from approaching the wall of the village.

On the line of the low wall, the Qing soldiers also piled up a large number of stones and rolling logs, and lowered them down by taking advantage of the mountain. One hit could smash a piece. Wang Yan could imagine that the Ming army would inevitably suffer a large number of casualties, and the Ming army climbed up the slope to attack. Almost no equipment is used.

The road for the Qing army to enter Shu was difficult without red-clothed cannons. The Ming army came all the way from Guizhou, and the road was not easy to travel. The several twelve-pound cannons brought by Wang Yan were directly thrown in Guizhou and could not be pulled in.

Now the little Frangji couldn't reach the top of the mountain at all, and the Western Army responsible for the first wave of attack had no other equipment except the light bamboo ladder made of bamboo.

"Sir, the Western Army is ready!" Looking at the chess and card officer in the car, he saw the Western Army raised the flag and reported loudly.

At this time, the war drums had been beating for a while, and the morale of the Ming army had been mobilized. Wang Yan looked at the front of the formation, and saw that the [-] Western troops were already carrying bamboo ladders and holding up rattan cards, and stepped forward to take their positions.

Wang Yan knew in his heart that this wave of attack must have suffered heavy casualties, and he could not even touch the Qing army's stronghold wall, but he had to take a look at the Qing army's defense methods before he could formulate a strategy for attacking the mountain.

"Send the order, Sun Kewang launches an attack!"

With the death of Zhang Xianzhong, the Daxi regime has come to an end. Wang Yan, the imperial court, and the gentry and civil-official group will not tolerate the continued existence of the Western Army representing the interests of the peasant class.

Wang Yan knew that the attack on the mountain would suffer heavy casualties, so he naturally couldn't let the five loyal troops go first. It happened that Sun Kewang was hesitant to accept the adaptation, so the western army was naturally obliged to take the lead.

Of course, this is also Wang Yan's attempt to force Sun Kewang to recognize the situation and stop having any illusions. Apart from being recruited, the only way out is to be exhausted by the war.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The rhythm of the war drums became more rapid, and the banner of the attack was played on the Wang chariot. The [-] Western troops who came forward suddenly roared and rushed to the foot of the mountain like a tide. They carried hundreds of bamboo ladders, brandished swords and long spears Spear, clambering up.

Nearly [-] horses, holding their shields and climbing the mountain, are densely packed like a swarm of ants.

On the wall of the stronghold, more than 20 four-pound Francophones of the Qing army opened fire first, and the iron bullets fell with great speed, but most of them hit the rocks, and the debris flew, and the surprised climbing Western army hurriedly lowered it. body.

The Western Army continued to climb, and gradually reached the mountainside against the running bullets thrown from time to time.

Qing General Li Guoying stood behind the low wall and looked down. He saw a dense crowd, but he was not panicked.

"Hmph, I want to use the sea of ​​people to attack the cottage!" Li Guoying failed to defend Chongqing Jiangfang, and now decided to avenge his shame, he sneered, and ordered: "Let the thunder, stones and logs!"

On the low wall, when the Qing soldiers heard the order, they raised their knives and cut off the rope on the baffle. As soon as the rope was broken, the wooden planks blocking the stones fell down immediately, and huge stones fell down immediately. They rolled down the hillside, making a series of collisions. sound.

Li Dingguo looked up, only felt that there was a rain of stones on the mountain, his face changed, he hurriedly grabbed a huge boulder, then turned around and shouted: "Quick, get out of the way."

All of a sudden, there were screams on the hillside, and pieces of stones fell down. The soldiers of the Western Army couldn't avoid it. They were hit by boulders one by one, and their bodies were deformed immediately. The stones hit the people in front, and they didn't stop. The hillside continued to roll among the crowd with great inertia.

These rocks were extremely fast and violent, rolling from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, and rolling out more than [-] steps on the flat ground. The bodies of the soldiers who were hit by the stones also rolled down the hillside, tripping up their comrades, and making those who were not hit The soldiers also got out of the way.

Only this time, under the collision of Lei Shi, the Western Army suffered two or three hundred casualties, with broken bones and tendons, and the sound of mourning rang out.

After the thunder stone passed, the Qing army began to smash the rolling logs down the mountain again. The ten-foot-long log was thrown down the mountain, and the effect was stronger than that of the thunder stone.

The Qing army looked at the crowded place and threw a log down, knocking down a piece of it immediately.

On the hillside, the Western Army suffered heavy casualties just after they reached the mountainside. Every time a boulder fell or a log was dropped, hundreds of people would be killed or injured.The hillside was already littered with corpses, smashed bodies and smashed heads everywhere, and the blood flowed into rivers, dyeing the boulders and logs rolling down the hill red.

"Brother!" Ai Nengqi ran to the back of the rock where Sun Kewang was hiding, and shouted: "We can't stand it anymore, the casualties are too heavy!"

Sun Kewang saw that the western army had suffered heavy casualties before they approached the range of the Qing soldiers' bows and arrows. If the rain of arrows was combined with thunder, stones and rolling logs, the casualties would be even greater. His expression changed, "Send an order to retreat immediately!"

"No!" Liu Wenxiu on the side hastily stopped him, "Without Wang Xianggong's order, we cannot retreat!"

(Thanks to Yuedong Woxin for the reward, and thanks for copyrightsss, I like Xueba, Breeze and Rain, Prelude 123456, Shouzhou Liang Silang's monthly pass.)
(End of this chapter)