Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Mantian Village is divided into Damantian and Xiaomantian.

A section of the plank road to the north of Xiaomantian Village, about a few hundred meters long, was demolished by Huang Deyu, the prefect of Lizhou.

When Ju Ming received the news from the vanguard troops, he immediately ordered his elite troops to escort two hundred handymen ahead. As close as possible to Mingyue Gorge, choose a slightly open location and cut down trees to build beams and planks.

They are all temporary materials and will break down within a few months.

If you want to build a long-term plank road, you must use special wood to dry in the shade and perform some anti-corrosion treatments.

After cutting down many heavenly trees, Deng Chun led five hundred elite vine armor soldiers, Hua Rong led fifty personal army musketeers, and slowly approached with craftsmen and handymen.

At the edge of the intact plank road, set up a few wooden boards to stick out.

One end is nailed shut, and the other end is hung in the air. The craftsman tied a rope around his waist, climbed over on the wooden board, and used a ruler to measure the size of the plank path hole.

After measuring the dimensions, he returned and used a plane to straighten the temporary stack beams.

Then the two men dragged the stack beam out, hung it up with a rope and stuffed it into the stack hole. One person holds it while the other person swings the hammer - the outer end of the stack beam has a long triangular notch, and the triangular wood block is inserted into it and hammered in. The working principle is similar to an expansion bolt.

This work is tiring and extremely dangerous. Fortunately, the stack hole in the cliff is still there.

After fixing the stack beams and nailing the planks, the carpenters (and masons) took turns working, slowly advancing dozens of meters.

When the road was repaired to a section that was slightly recessed into the cliff, a few rocks suddenly flew towards it. But from this angle, it can be attacked by catapults on the opposite mountain.

The two craftsmen were so frightened that they rolled back and crawled back. The temporary beams that had not yet been fixed just fell down dragging the ropes, hitting the cliff several times and falling into the rolling river water.

Deng Chun held an iron mace in his hand and said to the craftsmen: "If a person dies, he will receive a pension of 30 guan, and his family will be rewarded with three acres of paddy fields. After all the plank roads are built, each person will be rewarded with 10 guan! Duke Yuan Zhang never lies when he speaks. !”

The craftsmen looked at each other, discussed internally for a while, and began to draw lots to determine the order of work.

The accuracy of the catapult is very low. In order to ensure the range, the stone projectiles are not bigger than the head. Dozens of shells were fired, none of them hit, but the momentum was quite scary.

Especially after the stone bullet hit the cliff above, it fell together with the flying gravel.

Soon some craftsmen were injured, their heads were smashed by flying gravel, and they were dragged back with ropes and bandaged while bleeding.

Lasting from noon to early evening, the worst happened.

A stone bullet flew and smashed the carpenter's head!

The craftsman who worked with him was so frightened that after being dragged back, he still slumped on the plank road with a look of horror on his face.

Not only the craftsmen in the front were in danger, but the people pulling the ropes in the back were also exposed to the attack of the catapult. Deng Chun took out the giant shield of the long card player and asked them to hold it up for defense. He didn't know if they could block it.

Even if the giant shield could withstand it, the arm of the person holding it would be broken by the impact.

Purely using human lives to pile up!

The construction speed became slower and slower. Until Ju Ming arrived with the main force, the several hundred meters long plank road was still not completed.

Moreover, the further you go, the more dangerous it becomes, as you enter the bow and arrow range of the officers and soldiers.

The musketeers led by Hua Rong hid behind the giant shield and fought back. The accuracy of the blunderbuss is very high. Both Chinese generals like Qi Jiguang and European generals of the same period said that this thing can aim more accurately than a bow and arrow.

However, the archers of the officers and soldiers were condescending and hiding behind obstacles. Whether they could hit or not was purely a matter of luck.

"How is the situation?" Zhu Ming asked.

Deng Chun replied gloomily: "Thirteen carpenters and stonemasons died, five were seriously injured, and more than a dozen were slightly injured. They were afraid that they would be hit by arrows, so they all wore rattan armor. It was extremely inconvenient to move and the repairs were very slow. Very. The plank road that has been repaired has also been attacked by artillery carts. Fortunately, only some wooden boards were smashed, and the plank beams were not easily broken. "

Ju Ming was silent and then said: "The army has brought meat. Call them back to eat meat."

There is no other way but to cultivate in this way.

Chaotian Gorge is so steep that even the defending officers and soldiers cannot throw rocks at the top of the cliff. They can only attack with catapults from a high position on the gentle mountain opposite.

It took another three days to build the plank road to the point where the catapults could attack, and even archery was out of sight.

The officers and soldiers could only fire at the repaired plank road, smashing some wooden boards one after another, and two plank beams were also smashed and cracked.

"Follow me down and shoot!"

An officer and soldier led more than thirty archers down the mountain to the plank road.

"The craftsmen come back!" Hua Rong ordered quickly.

The soldiers on both sides finally faced each other head-on, with a destroyed plank road separated by forty or fifty meters.

A maximum of two people can stand side by side, and the official archers at the back can only shoot.

On the rebel side, the giant shield was flattened, and the musketeers wearing chain mail and helmets stood at the front and took aim.

While the archers of the officers and soldiers were still advancing, the rebel musketeers took the lead in firing.

"Bang bang!"

There were two crisp sounds, and an officer and soldier fell.

The musketeers in the second row stood up and fired two more shots. Then they immediately squatted down and the third row stood up and fired again.

"The witchcraft, the thief knows the witchcraft!"

"Run!"

The officers, soldiers, and archers were in great confusion and began to flee before even shooting an arrow.

Because the plank road was too narrow, several people were pushed off the cliff as they pushed each other in panic.

Another day later, the plank road was finally completely repaired, with a total of more than 30 craftsmen killed and injured.

You can reach Lizhou City directly ahead, but there is Xiaomantian Village on the mountain.

If the stronghold is not removed, the officers and soldiers on the mountain can come down at any time to cut off the retreat.

Zhu Ming said to Sun Lan and Xu Ning: "You take three thousand people and continue marching to approach Damantian Village. There is no need to rush to attack to prevent them from going down the mountain and destroying the plank road!"

"yes!"

The two took the order and left.

Zhu Ming turned around and looked at Xiaomantian Village, feeling a pain in his head.

The cliff is over 70 degrees, and there is a zigzag road up the mountain. Any cannons are useless, the angle is too big, and human lives must be used to pile them up.

Zhu Ming was reluctant to lose his elite troops, so he organized a small group of soldiers to feign an attack and consume them first.

For several days in a row, they attacked more than 20 times a day, with only 20 or 30 men invested each time. They retreated when the officers and soldiers dropped wood and rocks. Even at night, there was a feint attack with heavy thunder and little rain.

More than 300 miscellaneous soldiers were killed and injured one after another. The defenders finally stopped throwing rolling logs. They were probably exhausted.

After a few days, the rolling stones dropped became more and more irregular, had not been polished at all, and were of different sizes. Most of these stones were recently moved, and they were used wherever suitable ones were found throughout the mountains and plains.

By this point, the rebels had already suffered more than 500 casualties before they even started to attack.

Ju Ming forced himself to become cold-blooded, and his life became a number in his heart.

One general's success and ten thousand bones withered!

Fortunately, Xu Fuyan stood firm in Xingyuan Mansion and did not retreat to Lizhou with his troops. Otherwise, he would have to guard dangerous places along the way. Ju Ming would have to kill many people to fight all the way to Jianmen Pass.

"Shi Biao!" Zhu Ming shouted.

"Here!" Shi Biao stood up.

Ju Ming ordered: "You will lead 300 elite soldiers up the mountain in the middle of the night tonight."

"Yes!" Shi Biao accepted the order.

Zhu Ming said again: "Deng Chun!"

"exist!"

"If Shi Biao can go up the mountain, you can follow him with your troops and kill him!"

"yes!"

Before nightfall, Sun Lan and Xu Ning sent people back and brought back several heads: "General, Damantian Village has been captured!"

"Huh?" Zhu Ming was quite surprised.

The messenger said: "There are hundreds of officers and soldiers in Damantian Village. Before our army could attack, chaos broke out in the village. A village soldier killed the guard Juyi. When General Sun and General Xu heard the commotion, they were afraid of the enemy. They deliberately used deception and only sent 200 men to try to kill them up the mountain. The officers and soldiers in the stronghold who were fighting among themselves were defeated and surrendered when they saw our troops attacking!"

"Okay, everyone will be rewarded!" Ju Ming was overjoyed.

Huang Deyu, the governor of Lizhou, originally gathered a large number of troops to defend the Big and Small Mantian Villages.

But the farmers in Zhaohua County rebelled, and he had to lead his troops back to annihilate them. He left 800 soldiers in each village to garrison them.

In his opinion, the damaged plank road alone would be enough for Zhu Ming to repair in a month.

The terrain of Mantian Village and Big Mantian Village is steep, and it is enough to hold on until he brings his troops back.

Moreover, he concentrated his elite soldiers in Xiaomantian Village, and the Damantian Village further behind was mainly composed of rural soldiers.

Unexpectedly, the village soldiers in Damantian Village were resentful. When the rebels approached, they actually rebelled and started internal strife.

Ju Ming immediately changed his strategy and asked someone to carry his head up the mountain to persuade him to surrender.

A soldier held up a bamboo pole with several heads hanging on it and began to climb the mountain cautiously.

When the guard in Xiaomantian Village saw only one person coming, he ordered not to shoot arrows or throw stones.

The soldiers climbed up panting, and the guard's face suddenly changed. He had already recognized whose heads those were - Damantian Stronghold had been lost, and his place had become an isolated stronghold. It was absolutely impossible to wait for reinforcements.

"My general said that if you surrender, you will avoid death," the soldier said, "If you don't surrender, the village will be slaughtered!"

The guard general's willingness to let this miscellaneous soldier go up the mountain already shows that his attitude is not firm.

The main reason was that the plank road had been repaired, and the unknown weapons (firearms) frightened him. Moreover, the continuous attack on the mountain for many days has consumed a lot of rolling wood and falling rocks. The defenders in the village have already been shaken. If they continue to defend, sooner or later something will change.

At this moment, he looked at the soldiers around him and saw that every one of them was in panic. The guard pretended to throw away his weapons and said: "Oh, there is no way to save the day. Follow me down the mountain and please surrender."

Ju Ming was waiting at the bottom of the mountain. When he saw the officers and soldiers walking down the mountain road, he finally felt relieved.

He is not afraid of fighting tough battles, but this is not a way of fighting that only consumes human lives.

The guard knelt on the ground and said, "The commander of the Lizhou Xiang Army, Huang Mengqing, does not know the majesty of the general and acts like a chariot with his arms. He deserves death!"

Ju Ming listened to his words and asked, "Have you read the book?"

Huang Mengqing replied: "I took the Wu Jinshi exam, but I didn't write the article well, so I didn't pass the exam. I was just a Wu Jinshi candidate."

"No wonder you have deployed calmly and defended well. Get up." Ju Ming decided to accept this person. He might be a general.

As for the hundreds of soldiers who were killed or wounded, Huang Mengqing cannot be blamed for the blindness of his swords on the battlefield.

Ju Ming will never forgive those who kill prisoners or take credit for their crimes!

Leaving hundreds of soldiers to guard the Big and Small Mantian Village, Ju Ming led the troops to continue southward, passing through the plank road area, and soon approached Lizhou City.