Chapter 364: Alone Army Defending the High Platform
Feng Guiqi thought about it for a while and felt that the best way was to let the Mongolian army in to fight.
After thinking of this, he immediately sent scouts to find Liu Hu to explain his idea, and he shouted to his brothers to speed up the march.
Feng Guiqi led a large detachment to the north to Yushulin, which consisted of 5,000 civilian workers. The purpose of this team was to occupy Yushulin and build a fortress to control Hongshi Gorge and prevent the Mongolian army from entering the Great Wall and causing trouble again.
Such a large team could not be concealed after all, and the Kuoduan of Linzhou had known about it through a letter sent by flying eagle. He also received a report that Tu Hai had turned into the elm forest to fight for the pass in and out of the Great Wall.
Kuoduan was overjoyed and thought that God was helping him.
After calming down, he became worried again.
He was worried that Tu Hai was slow in action and would be overtaken by the Shenwei Army and then stuck in the desert and unable to move forward.
He was also worried that Tu Hai's military force was weak and he would not be able to hold on to Yulin after taking it.
In short, he hadn't made up his mind for half the night, so at daybreak he immediately dispatched a force of 10,000 people to reinforce Yulinshulin.
Lu Huacai, commander of the Qinzhidao Corps of the Shenwei Army, did not rest either. After receiving a secret letter from Miao Gui that Mongolian troops had appeared in the Yulin forest and that the central army tent planned to annihilate the enemy in the Yulin forest to consolidate the results of the battle, he immediately adjusted his deployment and released his 10,000 cavalrymen to march north along the Great Wall to support Liu Hu.
All parties are mobilizing their forces, and an epic battle is about to begin in Elm Forest.
At dawn, Tu Hai woke up from a good sleep wrapped in a mink coat and found that something big had happened.
This guy was stretching lazily, and the lieutenant on duty reported that the water-carrying team had returned and the spring behind had become a salt spring. He took two bites in a row and they were both salty. He could eat more than he dared.
Tu Hai, his arms weren't even stretched out yet, his waist was bent and suddenly froze.
Damn, this must be the work of the Shenwei Army’s scouts.
The water we fetched yesterday was sweet, but today it has turned salty. How can this man drink salt water? We are in the desert. Isn't it going to kill him and his brothers?
Tu Hai immediately ordered all the soldiers who were carrying water to gather together and bury them. Do not let any news leak out.
If the soldiers knew that the waterway behind them was cut off and they were about to die of thirst, they would not be able to control the team at all, and they would not even be able to fight the war.
Immediately, Tu Hai ordered the troops to reorganize and fight again, and they must rush into the canyon to grab the water source.
The attack and defense of Yulinshu was launched quickly, and the captain of the 4th column of the Shenwei Army urged his brothers to set up the battlefield and fight the Mongolian army.
Last night, he had received a message from the rear support, asking him to let the enemy in. This meant that his vanguard troops were to open the gorge and hold on to the high platform as bait.
While fighting, Liu Hu reduced the firing speed of the artillery shells to continue to lure the Mongolian army into an uninterrupted attack.
But today the Mongolian army seemed to have no need of his temptation and continued to attack, more fiercely than yesterday, as if they would not withdraw until they captured the gorge.
Moreover, Tu Hai brought out all the siege equipment, and the battle quickly became intense.
The most frustrating thing was that Liu Hu was unable to fight back against the Mongolian artillery fire in the desert. Once he started firing, he realized the weak spot of his red cannon and had to hide it.
At this time, the sentry in charge of rear guard hurriedly came to report: a group of Mongolian infantry came from the direction of Mizhi, with a number of no less than a thousand people.
Liu Hu immediately realized that it was the Mongolian army's flanking troops that had infiltrated, otherwise why would they, who were good at riding horses, rush on foot?
He immediately ordered the sniper troops at the gorge to retreat up the mountain and snipe the enemy from the high platform.
The soldiers retreated quickly, but before they could climb up the mountain, they heard shouts of killing from behind. The soldiers fought and retreated, and retreated to the mountain. The enemy desperately rushed to the river in the canyon and lay down, drinking the muddy river water in big gulps.
Only then did Liu Hu realize that the enemy had no water.
Tu Hai was overjoyed when he seized the water source, but the danger was not over. The Shenwei Army was standing on a high platform at the mouth of the gorge and shot down his soldiers passing by. A large number of them died every time they went south or north.
This group of enemies must be eliminated in order to control this entrance and exit. In other words, the purpose of this trip is to occupy the high platform to be considered a victory.
He rewarded the captain who led the infiltration last night and reorganized the army to attack the mountain in order to capture the high platform.
Liu Hu, who was on the mountain, saw the enemies spreading out from the foot of the mountain and climbing up in dense groups. He knew that the battle had entered a critical moment, so he called on all the officers to go down, with each one guarding a position, and they must defeat the enemy.
Although it is just a small hill, the only sides that can be climbed are the north and west. The other two sides are steep cliffs. They will kill anyone who comes up. The Mongolian army climbed up desperately, while the Shenwei army shot arrows and fired guns fiercely. In a hurry, they threw out smoking explosive packs.
The artillerymen didn't care that the Red Cannon's weakness was exposed, and they fired directly at the enemy's trebuchets in the desert. Because Tu Hai ordered his trebuchets and Huihui cannons to move forward and fire at close range.
If we don't fight, the entire platform will be covered by the Mongolian army's artillery fire.
The high platform became a meat grinder of hell on earth, with corpses piled up one by one, filling up layer by layer. The Mongolian soldiers were fearless and climbed up desperately by stepping on the corpses of their companions.
The fight ended after noon when Tu Hai called a halt.
His men had not had breakfast or a single sip of water because there was no fresh water ahead.
Now that we have water, we should have a good meal.
Tu Hai called off the battle, and both sides rested and had a meal. The Mongolian soldiers went back and filled their bowls and helmets with boiled water to drink, and grabbed some white rice and put it into their mouths.
On the high platform, the brothers of the Shenwei Army were also having a meal.
The close combat yesterday and today caused the 1st Corps of the 4th Column to lose nearly half of its troops.
The captain said that the Shenwei Army rarely fought this kind of desperate battle, and he had already lost two thousand of his five thousand men.
Liu Hu knew that the captain was in a bad mood, and he said that we should take action when it is time to do so, and this is what we are facing. Such a battle is cruel, but who hasn't fought a battle of desperate defense? Look at the current column leaders and battalion leaders, which one of them didn't crawl out of the pile of dead bodies.
The third young master intercepted and killed Monk Chen.
The Fire Phoenix fights against the Wang family's kidnapped horse.
General Feng even fought against the cavalry of Wang’s army.
What's the point of our sacrifice? The enemy will attack soon, go down and prepare quickly.
This time, the Mongolian army took out all the pots, pans, and utensils that could be used as cover and held them on their heads as they charged forward, which actually had a certain effect. The forward positions at the foot of the mountain were taken away one after another. The Shenwei Army was left alone to defend the high platform, and the situation became dangerous.
The red-coated cannons on the mountain can only fire far away, and now that the enemy is attacking from the high platform, the cannons are useless. The mortar shells have been used up, and the enemy has no artillery fire to attack, so the attack is extremely fierce.
Liu Hu used to be a soldier of Qingyeyuan. After he joined the Shenwei Army, Zhao Yulin did not treat him as an outsider. He promoted him to the commander of the 4th Column based on his merits.
This man was an expert , holding a crossbow with his brothers to kill the fastest climbing enemy. An arrow whizzed in front of him, he dodged, but the arrow still pierced his left arm, and soon he felt a slight pain.
The guard stepped forward to hold him and shouted: Captain, look, the enemy reinforcements are coming.
Liu Hu looked up into the depths of the desert and saw a group of Mongolian troops rushing towards them.
He shouted, "It's good to be here. Let's destroy them together." He turned to the captain and asked him to fire a few shots to welcome our opponents and knock down those who were rushing to the front.
The red cannon immediately roared, and the enemies who had just rushed into the gorge were caught off guard. They immediately left behind a large number of corpses and retreated, then dispersed and rushed towards the high platform.
The Shenwei Army's firearms had been used up, and their arrows had run out. Many soldiers relied on the terrain to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and the wounded soldiers looked around for stones to use as weapons for their brothers.
Liu Hu's eyes were red with anger. After a simple bandage, he saw that the enemy was getting closer and closer and would soon rush to the top of the hill. He snatched the iron loudspeaker from Yu Hou and shouted: Brothers, charge! The Third Young Master is watching us from behind.
He then ordered the charge to be blown to launch a counterattack in order to suppress the enemy.
Suddenly, the entire valley in the back gorge was filled with the sound of the Shenwei Army's charge. Then, dense mortar shells poured onto the enemy's position.
Liu Hu laughed loudly, shouting, "Reinforcements are coming! Fight back! Fight back!" Then he jumped out of the trench and rushed down.
Tu Hai was watching the Mongolian army about to capture the high platform and was feeling happy when he suddenly heard the majestic charge of the Shenwei Army. At first he thought that the Shenwei Army on the mountain was fighting desperately and were going to make a final charge.
Soon he heard the sound of dense artillery explosions. There were at least a hundred cannons firing at the same time. This was not a momentum that could be created by just a few guys on the mountain.
Tu Hai immediately knew that the Song army's reinforcements had arrived.
Without taking the high platform, everything was in vain. He knew how powerful the Shenwei Army was, and immediately ordered the troops to withdraw. Liu Hu's pressure was relieved a lot, but he suffered heavy losses and could only continue to snipe the enemy on the platform.
Because the reinforcements just now were actually fighting a battle of support, and the Mongolian army had a blockade line behind them, and the reinforcements had to break through that blockade line before they could join him.
Feng Guiqi, who came to reinforce, received a report from the scouts: a small group of enemies passed through the big grassland and went down to the canyon to take the back road of the elm forest. He ordered them to let them pass and follow them, so their speed was naturally much slower.
However, he believed that his brothers would definitely be able to stick to the enemy, create opportunities for war, and destroy the enemy. When he led the main force of the Fourth Column to the scene, he could not hear the sound of mortars. He realized that Liu Hu was in danger and must be rescued immediately, so he ordered the artillery to launch long-range support and attack Tu Hai's sniper troops at the same time.
When Liu Hu came down the mountain and saw Feng Guiqi, the two columns of the Shenwei Army had already chased him out. The enemy began to retreat, but they still tried their best to stop the Shenwei Army from taking water from the river.
This bought Feng Guiqi's troops precious time to annihilate Tu Hai. He commanded his troops to swarm forward and bombard Tu Hai fiercely. The river channel and river beach were filled with enemy corpses.
Tu Hai was running on the road when a group of Shenwei cavalrymen suddenly appeared from the side and blocked his way. The two teams soon engaged in a fierce battle. The Mongolian army saw that they were being pursued from behind and blocked from the front. They desperately fought their way out of the encirclement and fled.
However, the pursuers were increasing in number and were not letting go.
