Just when Wei Chi replaced Gao Chun to command the Yexian County Army to try to break through the narrow cobwebs on the southeast slope of the Black Tiger Mountain, two battles broke out on the eastern slope and the southern slope respectively.

Because of the construction period, the cobweb narrow road has not yet been built on the eastern and southern slopes, so the county army attacking the mountain still needs to climb the rock and attack, and use their own hands to open a passable passage on the overgrown slope.

But unfortunately, the Black Tiger Village has placed heavy troops on the slopes on both sides: Wang Qing on the east slope, Chu Yan on the south slope, and the Black Tigers on both sides of the hillside are close to 200 people.

Don't underestimate the defense of these 200 people, carefully speaking, the Black Tigers occupy a geographical advantage, and have prepared defensive weapons such as rolling stones and sassal wood in advance, in this case, even if there are only about 200 people, they may not be able to repel twice as many officers and soldiers as themselves.

At least, Wang Qing did not pay any attention to the officers and soldiers on the opposite side, and he was eager to immediately lead his brothers down the mountain to kill those county soldiers who were staggering to climb the mountain.

But unfortunately, this is not the time for him, the 'left commander', to go out of the horse, because he has a reserve of rolling stones and sassal wood on the eastern slope, and it is enough to use these things to defend the previous rounds of offensive of the officers and men.

"Put."

Seeing that the Xiangcheng County Army below had climbed halfway up the mountain, Wang Qing sat on a stone with his legs crossed and watched coldly, waved his hand lazily, and gave the order to throw rolling stones and sassal wood.

Under his command, round stones as big as millstones, as well as the whole log, rolled down the mountain with a gurgling grunt, rolling faster and faster, scaring the Xiangcheng County soldiers who were climbing into the ground like earth.

Regardless of the whole log, the rolling stones as big as a grinding disc are not easy to resist, and they can be described as deadly weapons that 'hit to death and bruise'.

In the face of this terrible defensive weapon, the only thing the county guards could do was to dodge, but unfortunately, there were still many people who were frightened and weakened in front of this rolling stone.

"Bang!"

A deafening sound rang out, and a huge rolling stone struck a bulge on the hillside, and with a deafening sound, it flew high enough to be two feet high.

However, when they saw this rolling stone, the Xiangcheng county guards below seemed to be frightened and weakened, and they looked up at the huge rolling stone in amazement, and stood motionless.

The ending, naturally, is not difficult to guess.

Hearing only a strange "poof" sound, mixed with the sound of bones and flesh being crushed, a Xiangcheng county pawn couldn't even make a scream, and suddenly 'disappeared' in the afterglow of the rest of his companions.

When the Xiangcheng county guards who were on the side turned their heads to look, they found that their unlucky companion had rolled down more than ten feet, and his flesh and blood were blurred, and there was a large dent in front of him, obviously unable to survive.

I have to say that a defensive weapon like a rolling stone will cause a huge shock and psychological shadow to the enemy, but in addition to these two points, in fact, it cannot cause enough casualties to the enemy.

In contrast, the seemingly inconspicuous sasswood is more threatening than the Rolling Stone.

The rolling stone is roughly round, and it will not easily change direction when it rolls down, but unlike the sandalwood, this kind of whole log often changes direction due to the obstruction of one end when it rolls down, and this will lead to the enemy's misjudgment in advance and be hit by the sandalwood.

Don't wonder how much damage a piece of wood rolled down a hillside can do, it may not be fatal, but it is enough to injure someone.

No, some of the Xiangcheng county guards who successfully dodged the rolling stones were hit by seedlings on the 'irregular' rolling wood, or were hit in the face by one end of the tree, and their faces were immediately covered with blood, and even a few teeth were smashed off; or they were hit by the wood on the limbs, and they made a sound of bones shattering, and immediately hugged the injured part and screamed.

One thing to say, in the face of this kind of rolling stone and sassa wood, the performance of the Xiangcheng county pawns is not good, as if they have not received relevant training at all, Wang Qing and others only put a part of the rolling stones and sassage wood, forcing these Xiangcheng county pawns to mess up.

"With this strength, you still dare to attack the mountain?"

Listening to the screams of the ghosts crying and wolves under the mountain, Wang Qing looked at the mountain with a mocking face, his face full of disdain.

From the side, the Black Tigers laughed.

Although these black tigers may not be able to do better than the Xiangcheng County Guards under the mountain, this does not prevent them from laughing at others at the moment.

At this time, the Xiangcheng County Guards below the mountain had no time to care about the mocking laughter of the black tiger thieves coming from the mountain, and were busy dodging the rolling stones and sassholes that rolled down.

Reflexively fleeing, this is undoubtedly the most stupid act, because people have no eyes on their backs and cannot see an approaching threat at all.

In the end, the rolling stones and sassal trees cost the Xiangcheng county guards dozens of casualties, and at least two-thirds of them were panicked.

Even Zou Bu, the county lieutenant of Xiangcheng, was frightened by the rolling stones and sassal trees, and his eyes looked at the mountain, quite at a loss.

Should we attack the mountain again?

Zou Bu was also a little hesitant, after all, they didn't even see the face of the mountain bandits, and they lost dozens of manpower - unlike some generals in the army who were accustomed to seeing casualty numbers purely as numbers, the county lieutenants in ordinary counties still attached great importance to their own casualties, after all, there were only so many people in total.

After some thought, Zou Bu finally gritted his teeth and decided to send someone to attack again.

You can't just be scared back like that, can you?

At the same time, on the southern slope, Ding Wu, the lieutenant of Luyang County, was also trying to lead the Luyang County Guards to attack the mountain.

In fact, the offensive on the southern slope should have been in charge of Ma Gai, the lieutenant of Kunyang County, but Ma Gai picked Yang Ding's picks - he had a perfunctory attitude towards Yang Ding's attempt to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves in the name of 'recruiting Zhou Hu', so Yang Ding naturally did not expect Ma Gai to contribute, so the matter of attacking the mountain fell on Ding Wu and the Luyang County Army under his command.

And what Ding Wu and the others are facing is Chu Yan, the 'right leader' of Black Tiger Village.

He stood halfway up the mountain with his arms crossed, condescendingly looking at the Luyang County Army who was climbing up the mountain below, and staring at a banner among those people below with a complicated expression.

It was a flag with white characters on a black background, with the word 'Luyang' written on it, and judging from the specifications of the flag, this was obviously a city flag.

The so-called city flag is the banner erected at the head of the city by large and small cities under the sky.

The county soldiers are different from the army, and generally do not have a flag to indicate their identity, so when the county army is dispatched, they will borrow the city flag to show their identity, just like the Luyang County Army that Chu Yan saw at the moment.

"The county army of Luyang...... The leader of the troops should be Ding Wu, the lieutenant of Luyang County, right?"

Chu Yan secretly guessed in her heart.

Unlike the ordinary Black Tigers, Chu Yan was one of the few leaders of the cottage who knew Zhao Yu's exact identity, he was very aware of the relationship between Zhao Yu and Ding Wu, and he also knew that Zhao Yu had privately discussed with Ding Wu and even with Liu Wei, the county magistrate of Luyang County.

It is no exaggeration to say that Ding Wu is his own person.

This is not Chu Yan's personal judgment, he has asked Zhao Yu - when he noticed that there were Luyang County Army and County Lieutenant Ding Wu among the officers and soldiers under the mountain, Chu Yan asked Zhao Yu privately.

Although Zhao Yu did not tell him exactly why Luyang County responded to Ye County's call to suppress thieves at that time, he obviously told him: It was his own person.

Since it is his own person, it is necessary to show mercy to his subordinates.

Thinking of this, Chu Yan instructed left and right: "Put in the rolling stone and the sasalamina." ”

The Black Tigers on the left and right were stunned when they heard this, and reminded: "Right Commander, the enemy army has not penetrated deep into the mountains yet?" Why don't you wait until they get closer......"

Chu Yan glanced at the person who spoke, and said lightly, "Listen to me." ”

"Uh...... Be. ”

Under Chu Yan's order, the black tigers guarding the mountainside cut the ropes and put some rolling stones and sassalo wood.

The rolling stones, which are as big as millstones, and the whole log, gurgle and roll down the mountain.

Hearing these movements, the Luyang County Army immediately sensed the crisis and shouted: "Rolling Stones! Rolling stone! ”

Luyang County Lieutenant Ding Wu naturally also noticed.

"Huh."

With a chuckle, he pretended to be serious and ordered: "Don't panic, everyone pay attention to dodge." ”

Under the command of Ding Wu, many Luyang county soldiers avoided this wave of attacks without danger.

Because they didn't know the reason, some Luyang County catchers laughed at the black tiger thieves on the mountain: "These stupid guys are so uncontrollable, if they wait a little longer, I'm afraid we will suffer heavy losses." ”

Hearing these words, Ding Wu secretly shook his head.

Lose one's cool?

The Black Tiger Thieves have gone through four encirclements and suppressions, one of which was even encircled and suppressed by the regular army, and that group of people will not be able to hold their breath?

Obviously, the other party was deliberately merciful, or he was reminded in advance, so as not to cause too many casualties among his Luyang County army.

Thinking of this, Ding Wu pretended to be serious and scolded: "Don't be careless! Don't forget, this group of thieves has been encircled and suppressed four times, and underestimating them is undoubtedly the way to die! I think there must be some deep meaning in the actions of the other side, they may want us to take it lightly, not to slack off, and to be vigilant in mountain climbing! ”

“…… Be. ”

was reprimanded by Ding Wu, and the Luyang county guards naturally didn't dare to say anything, and climbed cautiously one by one.

And this means that the climbing speed of these Luyang soldiers is more than slower than that of the other two battlefields.

In addition, Chu Yan successively threw a few rolling stones and sassal wood as a 'scare', and the climbing speed of the Luyang county guards became slower and slower, but the good thing was that the casualties of the Luyang county soldiers were also minimal.

And this made Ding Wu hesitate.

He didn't know if he should lead his officers and soldiers to attack, because he didn't know if his actions would have a negative impact on the Black Tiger Thief.

In the end, Chu Yan thought of a solution for him: archery!

When there were still dozens of zhang apart, Chu Yan ordered the black tigers under his command to release arrows down the mountain.

The crossbow arrow, which is supposed to be a medium-distance weapon, is the most powerful between a dozen and dozens of steps, but if it is separated by dozens of feet, the power can be greatly reduced - and even, whether to shoot or not is a problem.

However, Chu Yan's approach made Ding Wu's eyes shine.

"Fight back! Counterattack! ”

With a distance of dozens of feet, Ding Wu pretended to be excited and shouted out the words of counterattack.

The Luyang county guards didn't know why, but they didn't dare to disobey Ding Wu's order, so they all lay on the ground, holding bows and crossbows and shooting at the mountain, and there was a fierce confrontation with the black tiger thieves on the mountain.

I have to say that this scene is quite steep at first glance, there are arrows coming and going, but in fact, the bow and crossbow at this distance are not necessarily powerful, even if they are shot, both sides can also block those arrows with the leather armor on their bodies - unless they are really unlucky, and they are shot in the eyeballs, throat and other fragile vital points by stray arrows.

In the end, until Yang Ding ordered Mingjin to withdraw his troops, the casualties of the Luyang County Army were also minimal.

In this regard, even Ding Wu muttered a little: Did you go too far?

A moment later, Wei Chi took the lead in leading the officers and soldiers of Ye County to withdraw to their camps, and then reported the losses to Yang Ding.

When it comes to the casualties of the county soldiers in Yexian County, it is not too much, but it is not too much, it is about forty or fifty people killed and more than 100 injured, and in general, it is barely passable.

This result was naturally due to Wei Chi's proper command and timely retreat.

In contrast, the result of Wei Chi's attempt to attack the mountain this time made Yang Ding feel more and more headaches.

In Yang Ding's tent, Wei Chi drew a map of the mountain roads in front of Yang Ding, Wei Dong, and Gao Chun, and also marked the forks in the mountain clearly.

He said to Yang Ding: "As Ma Gai said, this so-called 'spider web narrow road' is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is not only full of forks in the road, but also has many ambushes, if you want to attack this way, at least a thousand soldiers, I dare to try." ”

Yang Ding listened and asked in surprise: "Even if you have already explored these forks in the road?" ”

Wei Chi nodded solemnly.

"Can a thousand soldiers ensure victory?" Yang Ding asked.

"This ......" Wei Chi hesitated.

Seeing this, Yang Ding also understood, and paced back and forth in the tent with a solemn expression.

There are a thousand soldiers, they actually have them, but the problem Wei Chi said that he dared to try only when there were a thousand soldiers, and his attitude also showed that he did not ensure that he was sure of victory, but only that he could try.

It can be seen that if you want to ensure victory, you must be prepared to pay even greater losses, and it is far from enough to rely on a thousand county soldiers.

This made Yang Ding hesitate a little.

After thinking about it for a while, Yang Ding instructed Wei Chi and Gao Chun: "You two will go to comfort the wounded on my behalf first, and I will discuss it with the old man." ”

"Yes!" Wei Chi and Gao Chun hugged their fists and left.

After the two left, Wei Dong said with a smile: "The young master doesn't want too many casualties, right?" ”

"Hmm." Yang Ding didn't hide it, and nodded truthfully.

Seeing this, Wei Dong's eyes flashed with a little appreciation, but immediately, he said with a straight face: "The young master is kind-hearted, but the so-called mercy is not in charge of the army, if the young master wants to eradicate the black tiger thief, then he must be prepared to pay a huge price......

"That being said......"

Yang Ding's face was melancholy, and he changed his words: "Let's call Zou Bu, Ding Wu and others to ask about the battle situation first." ”

As soon as he heard this, Wei Dong, the general of his hometown, knew that his young master didn't want to continue this topic, so he didn't say anything more.

A moment later, Yang Ding summoned Zou Bu, Huang Ben, Ding Wu, and Ma Gai.

In all fairness, today, the officers and soldiers of his five counties attacked Black Tiger Mountain in three ways, and Yang Ding was not satisfied with the battle situation on each road, but fortunately, this was just a tentative feint to test the strength of the Black Tiger Thief and the feasibility of these three routes of using troops, so Yang Ding did not care much about victory or defeat.

After the four county lieutenants arrived, he asked Zou Bu and Ding Wudao: "Zou County Lieutenant, Ding County Lieutenant, I don't know how the two were killed or injured today?" ”

Zou Bu was the first to reply: "The thieves used rolling stones and sassal trees as defense, so that there were many casualties among the men under my command, more than 30 people were killed, and more than 50 people were seriously injured......

Yang Ding could barely accept this casualty figure, so he nodded and turned his head to look at Ding Wu.

Seeing this, Ding Wu also hugged his fists and said: "Like the county lieutenant Zou, I attacked the southern slope, and the black tiger thieves on the southern slope also tried to force back my men with rolling stones and sassal wood, fortunately, I once talked to the county lieutenant Gao about the black tiger thieves, and I was prepared in advance, so the loss on my side is not big, as long as a few people were killed, but there were nearly 100 wounded, most of them were injured by the black tiger thieves with crossbow arrows......"

He slightly exaggerated the number of injured people, anyway, in his opinion, Yang Ding would not send someone to count them one by one.

Sure enough, Yang Ding did not doubt the figures reported by Ding Wu at all, nodded and said: "Today's temptation, the three counties all have different casualties, but they also roughly understand the strength of the black tiger thief. …… First of all, the road on the southeast slope, which is what Maxian called the spider web narrow road, this road is estimated to be impossible, according to my general Wei Chi, unless there are several times the strength of the black tiger thief regardless of casualties, it is difficult to break through, so I think we should focus on the east slope and the south slope...... Lieutenant Zou and Lieutenant Ding, what do you think? ”

Glancing at Zou Bu with a hesitant look on his face, Ding Wu thought for a while and said: "It is generally feasible, however, there is no smooth and feasible mountain road on the southern slope, and probably the same is true on the eastern slope......

Hearing the word 'archery', Yang Ding glanced at Ma Gai and asked quietly: "County Lieutenant Ma, when Wei Chi reported to me, there was something that Yang thought was incredible, and that was the weapon of the black tiger thief...... A mere bandit has a lot of leather armor and crossbow tools, but I don't know what the reason is? ”

Ma Gai's eyes flickered slightly, and then he spread his hands and said, "I'm sorry, Yang County Order, Ma doesn't know about this." ”

Can I send someone to check the armory in your county? - Yang Ding wanted to ask this question at the moment, but he still held back, because he knew that if the black tiger thief really conspired with Ma Gai to obtain the equipment in the Kunyang County Armory, then Ma Gai would definitely try to cover up the traces and use excuses such as 'scrapping' to deceive the past.

If you ask at this time, you will undoubtedly startle the snake.

Thinking of this, he quietly revealed the matter, and calmly ordered to everyone: "Since it is not easy to storm the mountain, I will besiege the mountain for a few days, and wait for me to think of a strategy that can break the enemy, and by the way, let the soldiers have a good rest." ”

"Yes." The county lieutenants did not doubt him, and they all clenched their fists to receive their lives.

After the four county commanders left, Yang Ding sat at the table in the tent thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he turned to Wei Dong and said, "Old man, send someone to borrow troops from Yingchuan County!" ”

"Borrowed soldiers?"

Wei Dong was stunned, his face showing a little doubt, but he still nodded.

"Okay."