Chapter 587 The enemy launches a sneak attack
Now that the Shenwei Army is strong and has conquered Daizhou, these brainless people have begun to defect to the New Song Dynasty. However, even though they have surrendered now, they are actually fence-sitters. As long as there is enough temptation, they may defect to the heroic lord who eats big chunks of meat and drinks big bowls of wine on the grassland again.
How could Zhao Yulin know that a crisis was approaching at the border? He was still happily celebrating the New Year with Zhao Feiyan, Hu Lan and others.
It's New Year's Eve, and the streets and alleys of the new town have gradually become quiet. People have bought New Year's goods and are busy going home to eat New Year's Eve dinner. The rows of big red lanterns on the streets make the city look festive and auspicious, and the sounds of firecrackers can be heard from time to time.
The lights were on, Hu Lan helped Feiyan to sit down at the table, raised his wine glass and asked him to say a few words, and then they would start to eat the New Year's dinner.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: I wish Feiyan to give birth to a baby smoothly, I wish Hulan to be a county magistrate, and I wish our children to be happy and safe...
He gave a long list of blessings, and ended with a "Happy New Year" and "Eat, drink, drink." Gradually, the sound of dense firecrackers could be heard around them.
At Yanmen Pass, merchants and the few residents were having New Year's Eve dinner with the army to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Liu Zheng gave a face like Guan Gong and stopped. According to the Third Young Master's instructions, the general had to take over for the soldiers on duty, as he still had to be on duty tonight.
This guy told his brothers to eat and drink well, and he had to go out to check on them.
Liu Zheng came out, walked up to the city wall and looked to the north. There was a vast white fog all around. The entire land, including the ravines and mountains, was covered by the heavy snow that had fallen some time ago. No one was worried that the enemy would launch a sneak attack or seize the pass.
But he is Liu Zheng, and he looks at things differently.
Deputy General Ma Yi asked him: "It's snowing again, should we still splash water on the city wall over there?" The brothers were having a great time.
Liu Zheng looked at Ma Yi sharply and said: Commander Lai personally gave Yanmen to our Sixth Column to guard, how can we be careless. It is said that it was the Third Young Master's intention. What ability do I, Liu Dunzi, have to win the Third Young Master's favor? It's just a matter of being careful. We can't be careless and lose Jingzhou and bring discredit to the Sixth Column.
While the two were talking, a lieutenant from the main tent came running over with an urgent report: the surrendered soldiers in Daizhou City suddenly rebelled, and Marshal Li urgently ordered troops to be sent to support them.
Liu Zheng waved his hand and asked people to go down and take a look. He immediately mobilized 3,000 troops and ordered everyone to hold torches and run to reinforce Daizhou.
Looking back, Ma Yi asked him what to do?
He said that he would act according to the plan and everything would remain the same, and he could still defend Yanmen with only 5,000 people.
The defenders in Yanmen Pass were quickly mobilized , but there was no change on the city wall. There was still a rotation of guards every ten steps, and the night watchmen knocked on their sticks regularly according to the time to send off one hour after another.
In the darkness, brothers from the western cliff kept carrying well water to the city wall and pouring it silently. The extremely cold temperature made the water turn into ice, and layers of icicles piled up, making the top of the city wall look like an outward-leaning cliff.
A group of brothers fixed huge thatched men on the inner city wall, three or five of them like sculptures.
Seeing that it was almost time, Liu Zheng told his brothers to take a rest, and the soldiers in charge of burning oil at both ends began to set up the pots and prepare firewood and vegetable oil. He walked over and told Qianliyan and Shunfenger to take turns on duty and not to take a nap.
Below Xijinggou, Xie Cheng led 3,000 elite soldiers and hid during the day and moved at night. They had already reached the steep cliffs below Yanmen Pass. He personally led 300 death squads, covered in sheepskin, and crawled forward, lurking at the foot of the city wall.
The journey was extremely difficult and arduous. Less than a hundred miles from Datong, we were traveling through desolate mountains and wilderness, with knee-deep snow everywhere.
By the time his troops reached Yanmen, hundreds of them had been killed by frostbite.
This fellow was ruthless and loyal enough, he killed the soldiers who were frostbitten and unable to walk, and traveled light all the way to the foot of Yanmen Pass. He encouraged his brothers and told them that Great Khan Mengge had ordered that those who climbed up Yanmen Pass would be promoted three levels and rewarded with 100 taels of gold.
These desperate criminals were so excited that their blood boiled and they no longer felt cold even on the ice beneath their bodies.
However, the gods did not protect these evil children, and it started snowing heavily again.
When Xie Cheng saw the snow falling from the sky, he was secretly happy, thinking that the Khan had made every possible plan and that God was providing support, so the sneak attack would surely succeed.
However, the heat in his body was constantly dissipating. He had not been lying on the ground for long when he felt a chill in his chest. He could not help but take out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket, removed the stopper and gulped down two gulps of liquor to ward off the cold. The soldiers with them were drinking it one after another to keep warm.
It was approaching dawn and the time had come.
Xie Cheng patted the guards on both sides and ordered them to take action. After gathering the men, he found that dozens of brothers were frozen stiff.
The guy growled indifferently: Kill the horses for the meat and clear the way.
A large group of soldiers behind had already strangled their horses, cut off their bloody legs and sent them up. The assassins pressed the horse legs against the icy surface of the cliff, and they immediately stuck to the cliff. After a short while, they became hard enough for people to stand on.
Xie Cheng was overjoyed and urged people to act quickly.
The soldiers found that it was easier to grab the horse's tail by sticking it to the cliff, so even the horse's butt was not wasted and all of it was used.
The ice and snow reflected a faint light, and a dark ant-like route quickly extended upwards.
At this time, Tacaer ordered the Mongolian troops in the front to launch a surprise attack. The Mongolian troops that had already moved to the front of Yanmen Pass shouted and rushed towards the defensive positions of the Shenwei Army.
There were three tall stone walls and more than twenty earth walls in front of Yanmen Pass to assist in defense. After Liu Zheng captured Yanmen, he repaired these fortifications with all his strength and formed three powerful supports outside the pass.
Because the Mongolian army was attacking from below, they had no advantage over the trebuchets and Huihui cannons, so they simply gave up the cannons and quietly moved forward to fight with men.
Ma Yi, who was in charge of guarding the gate, immediately fired incendiary bombs at the preset positions outside to illuminate the positions. The artillery team quickly divided the work, some bombing, some illuminating, and supporting the brothers in the fighting on the support points.
Liu Zheng stood at the gate and smiled contemptuously, thinking that the opposing commander's acting skills were too poor. He repeatedly made moves to attract his attention, only to cause trouble elsewhere.
He constantly sent out his staff and personal guards to supervise and investigate:
All is quiet in the east.
All is calm in the south.
All is calm in the north.
Only the west gate was busy with fighting .
However, one detail caught his attention. On the southwest cliff, Shunfenger smelled a hint of blood, liquor and butter coming from Xijinggou below the cliff, which immediately caught his attention.
The smell of blood can feel strange.
The taste of soju can also feel strange.
The smell of ghee is unmistakable.
Ghee is a high-calorie food and a favorite of grassland people. They eat it for a long time, and their bodies and clothes are full of a strong smell of ghee.
Liu Zheng was immediately inspired and told his personal guards that the enemy was trying to climb up the cliff, and asked his brothers not to go to the cliff to spy and disturb them, but to be mentally prepared and push the two high-fire oil tanks out first.
Xie Cheng was delighted when he saw his men were about to climb up the city wall. He kept urging them to quickly cut off the horses' legs and buttocks and send them up.
You may ask, after being transported for a while, will the horse legs, buttocks, etc. be frozen and unable to be attached to the cliff?
There is no need to worry about these things. They have their own way, which is to cut open the surface layer of the wound again. The uncoagulated horse blood that flows out can still have a good bonding effect.
Jie Cheng's warriors finally climbed up the wall of Yanmen Pass and threw the first rope down the cliff. He was overjoyed that the ladder was completed. He immediately ordered to continue climbing up. The Mongolian soldiers climbed up one after another along the ladder built with horse legs.
Soon, the second and third ropes were thrown down one after another.
Suddenly, the straw man on the city wall at the cliff was lit up by the rockets that were shot at it. Arrows kept flying towards the Mongolian soldiers on the city wall who had not yet stood firm. Some of them were shot as soon as their upper bodies emerged, and they fell into the abyss with screams.
Jie Cheng saw that his sneak attack failed and he was exposed.
However, someone still climbed up the wall of Yanmen, which was half the success. He could not miss this great opportunity. He drew his sword to supervise the battle, forcing his men to grab the ropes and climb up, and to grab the horses' tails and climb up. Yanmen Pass must be opened for him.
The war has already begun, and the large group of people behind are coming soon. There is no need to hide at this time. They just want to climb up the cliff to capture Yanmen Pass.
However, Xie Cheng discovered that the number of people who fell down was almost the same as the number of people who climbed up. Some Mongolian soldiers took off their hand grenades and threw them out while climbing, blowing out the torches of the Shenwei Army. But such masters were a minority after all. After fighting for two incense sticks of time, the situation on the battlefield did not change.
The Mongolian army was still climbing the wall at a cliff less than three meters wide.
Liu Zheng saw that the enemy had blown up many of the straw men, and the remaining ones would not burn for long, so he ordered the fierce fire oil tank to start working and the magic arm crossbow to provide cover and press forward.
The brothers on both ends of the city wall took action immediately. The fierce fire oil tank spewed out two tongues of fire that illuminated the battlefield, making it more convenient for the archers to shoot. The Mongolian soldiers standing on the city wall were set on fire. Most of them had nowhere to hide and jumped off the cliff screaming.
The ropes that the Mongolian soldiers tied to the battlements of the city wall were ignited by kerosene and quickly broke. The Mongolian soldiers who were climbing up let out shrill screams and fell down.
However, some ruthless Mongolian soldiers climbed up regardless of the consequences and even threw out hand grenades to blow up the fierce fire oil tank on the right side near the door.
The brothers of the Sixth Column were furious and took off their grenades and threw them out.
Seeing that his brothers had the situation under control and no more enemies were climbing up, Liu Zheng immediately ordered them to pour the oil quickly.
The soldiers behind picked up buckets of boiling hot oil and poured them down densely. Screams continued to be heard from the cliff. The ice on the edge of the city wall that had been frozen by the water fell off when it was heated , and pieces of ice fell down. The horse meat ladder made by the Mongolian army was cleaned up.
Xie Cheng saw that Mongolian soldiers kept falling from the ladder and the corpses had piled up into a mountain under his feet. He knew that the sneak attack had failed, so he reluctantly ordered a retreat.
As soon as this guy turned around, he was hit on the head and quickly lay down. After a deafening explosion sounded beside him, he immediately fainted.
