The five thousand light horsemen under Wang Yuan's command carried two days' dry food and drinking water, which was prepared to go out to chase the enemy at any time.

Zhu Houzhao's 500 leopard cavalry didn't bring anything, and the two layers of heavy armor were also taken off and thrown on the way to chase the enemy. As a result, they were not dressed enough, and it became colder and colder after nightfall, and now they were all shivering around the fire to keep warm.

The light cavalry divided the rations, and for the time being there was no need to kill horses to satisfy their hunger.

"Your Majesty, Governor, the beacon is ready!" A Leopard Fang cronie named Zhu Zhong rushed over.

Zhu Houzhao said happily: "I will light the beacon fire tomorrow." ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said: "We are afraid that we will enter the mountain for nearly ten miles, and it is difficult for friendly troops to see the beacon smoke here, so we must go to the mountain in front of us to light the fire." ”

Zhu Houzhao immediately called the mountaineers who had joined the army and asked, "Where is the best place to climb to the top of the mountain outside?" ”

A young mountain man replied: "The place suitable for climbing is four or five miles behind the Mongolian Tartars." The further you went into the mountains, the steeper the mountains became, making it impossible for the army to pass. But I can pick a place to climb up and throw a rope down, so it's much easier to climb. ”

Wang Yuan immediately ordered to go to the mountain people's homes to collect ropes.

Ordinary ropes are too thin to bear the weight for a long time, so they can only be braided into one. This is a bit insufficient, and Wang Yuan asked the soldiers to cut the horse's tail hair and mane, and use all of them to weave ropes, which are still very strong.

The beacon fire in the army, a signal for ten miles, no matter how far it is, it is not easy to observe.

If you want to form a beacon smoke that can be seen ten miles away, it is naturally impossible to burn some thatch casually. It needs dry firewood, wet firewood, grease, cow and sheep dung and other materials to be used alternately, and the cow and sheep dung must be poured into a semi-wet state with water, so as to concoct the billowing smoke that rises to the sky.

The mountain people who are responsible for climbing the mountain wall are very powerful, and it is estimated that they were trained when they were hunting and collecting medicines. More than 10 zhang (about 50 meters) high steep cliff, only with a medicine hoe, barefoot just like that.

The rope was a little insufficient, so only two were made, and only two people could climb up at a time.

Even so, after a few people went up, there was also a soldier who missed, fell twenty or thirty meters and died.

Then in groups of four, pull the foil up with a rope. When the beacon material is piled up on the mountain, and then continue to send people to climb, there will be at least twenty soldiers who go to burn the beacon smoke. First, it is convenient to transport a large number of beacon materials, and secondly, if someone falls down the mountain halfway, there are enough people to make up for it.

After climbing to the fifth watch, there were finally 20 people, and the mountain people immediately led the team to march.

The top of the hill here is relatively open, so you don't need to light a torch to get on the road. At the end of the two miles, the mountain people asked the officers and soldiers to light torches, and the situation in front of them showed that the legs and feet of the people were weak.

Most of the mountains are covered by loess, and soil erosion is very serious. In many places, the top layer of loess has been washed away, revealing the siliceous sand underneath, and the summit is getting narrower and narrower, and there are uneven gaps everywhere, often allowing only one person to climb up and down.

If you are not careful, you will step on the loose loess and fall from the top of the mountain.

On the way, two soldiers were killed in a fall, and including the mountain people, there were only nineteen people left in the beacon fire team.

At this time it was already dawn, and the mountain people climbed up to a high ground and suddenly shouted in terror: "There are Tartars!" ”

The Mongol soldiers split into two groups, but found easy climbs only in the south. They had no ropes to use, and more people died while climbing, followed by a rugged summit where several more fell to their deaths along the way.

At this moment, a mountain man plus eighteen Ming soldiers followed thousands of Mongolian soldiers with wide eyes.

In this broken place, it is difficult to walk normally, let alone open the scoop with a knife.

"Formation!"

The Daming flag officer, who was in charge of leading the team, quickly reacted. Pile the firewood they carried in front of them to defend against the arrows, and then light a beacon fire on the spot.

Even if there were thousands of Mongol soldiers, they could only be caught blind at the moment. They had to line up one by one, and they had to be careful of slipping and falling, and their only way to attack was to release arrows from the air.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were all backed by firewood and were not affected by the arrows at all.

Light the dry firewood, then add grease, then spread another layer of wet firewood, and throw some half-dry and half-wet livestock manure into it. In this way, they add layer by layer, and they carry the beacon material, which can be burned for at least half a day.

The Mongol soldiers, still firing arrows, could not get by themselves, and did not let the enemy come.

……

Pull back to dawn.

After the beacon team finished climbing the mountain, Wang Yuan said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I will also go up, and I will hand it over to Yuan Er to command here." ”

Zhu Houzhao was afraid that Wang Yuan would fall: "What are you going to do?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "I led the soldiers to climb up and throw stones on top of the Tartars' heads. If the Tartar leader can be found, he may be killed with an arrow. ”

This time, it was Zhu Houzhao's turn to dissuade: "Just send someone else." ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "My archery skills are better." ”

Wang Yuan has lived in the mountains since he was a child, and climbing mountain cliffs is commonplace, not to mention that there is a rope. He had great strength, his feet were on the mountain wall, he was holding on to the rope, and he rose quickly and neatly, more than twice as fast as ordinary soldiers.

When the sky was bright, the Ming army successfully reached the top of more than 20 people.

Wang Yuan personally led a team to search for stones, but there were not many stones on the top of the mountain, so he could only break some loess lumps.

The Tartars organized an attack again, and it was naturally the tribes who were bullied who were responsible for filling in. Anyway, Dayan Khan will not feel distressed, this time his loss is a bit big, send more tribes who are usually disobedient to die, and it can also strengthen the rule of the Dayan Khan family.

As long as you can catch the Han emperor, everything is worth it.

Wang Yuan asked the soldiers to put the loess lump on the top of the mountain, and did not throw it down for the time being. He took out his clairvoyant mirror, lay on the top of the mountain and looked closely, and soon found a Mongol leader who had organized an attack.

If you are not satisfied, continue to observe.

After a while, Wang Yuan seemed to have discovered the location of the Tatar center.

There were several Mongol chieftains, sitting on the shoulders of their soldiers to observe the battle. This is because there is no high platform in the valley, and the shoulders of the Mongol soldiers are higher than those of the Mongol horses.

In the previous days of fighting, Wang Yuan had observed the enemy leader with a clairvoyant mirror.

Among them, Dayan Khan has a high appearance rate, after all, this person is the center of the Tatar main formation.

Suddenly, Wang Yuan's heart jumped suddenly, and he actually saw Dayan Khan. The man was riding on the shoulders of a soldier, supported by soldiers on the left and right, calmly observing the battle ahead.

Wang Yuan changed to a better sniper position, took out the rhino bow, and wound it with a heavy arrow.

At this time, the vertical distance between the two sides was only more than 50 meters. In order to facilitate shooting, Wang Yuan took the initiative to adjust the sniper position, and the straight-line distance was only sixty or seventy meters.

So close, Wang Yuan was completely sure.

Even, Wang Yuan was afraid that Dayan Khan would move, so he didn't aim at his throat and head, but at the other party's chest.

"Whoosh!"

A heavy arrow flew out, Dayan Khan just leaned down and said to his eldest grandson Buchi: "Such a battle situation, it should be ......"

Before he finished speaking, Dayan Khan was hit by an arrow in his left shoulder and fell straight back.

Wang Yuan quickly took the arrow again, and before the bowstring could be full, another arrow was fired, this time hitting Dayan Khan's calf hanging upside down on the soldier's shoulder.

Two arrows hit the target in succession, and the Mongols finally reacted and surrounded the wounded Dayan Khan.

Suddenly, two or three miles away from the top of the mountain, billowing wolf smoke rose.

"Falling stones!"

After Wang Yuan finished speaking, he took out the horn and sounded the horn of attack on the top of the mountain.

Twenty or thirty Ming soldiers threw loess lumps from the top of the mountain. Even if the loess is loose and smashed down dozens of meters high, once you hit someone, you will have to lose half your life if you don't die.

It was the wolf smoke behind him, the horns and falling rocks overhead, and the Mongol army suddenly panicked.

"There is an ambush, retreat!" Bu Chi hugged Dayan Khan's body and shouted.

The veteran general, the leader of the Tatar tribes, shouted: "Leave 2,000 people behind, leave 2,000 people behind!" ”

After breaking a fart, Dayan Khan's life and death are unknown. Bu Chi, the heir to the Khan's throne, took Dayan Khan to flee first, how could the other ministries calm down? What's more, the Mongolian soldiers who fought in the bloody battle at the front were all from less core tribes, and they had already had grievances under the heavy casualties.

More than 10,000 Mongol troops rushed to flee. Some fled on horseback, some ran wildly on foot, and the roads in the valley were narrow, and the number of Mongol soldiers who trampled to death was several times higher than when they died in bloody battles before.

Zhu Houzhao and Yuan Da, although they couldn't figure out what the situation was, they heard Wang Yuan's charge and immediately ordered their soldiers to get on their horses and chase after them.

There were too many Mongolian soldiers trampled to death by friendly troops in the valley, and the Ming cavalry almost stepped on the corpse of the enemy, chasing in a long snake formation. Zhu Houzhao hated in his heart, such a good opportunity to kill the enemy, he was actually blocked behind by his subordinates, and the terrain was too narrow to give full play to the advantages of BMW.

Wang Yuan quickly ran back to the place where he went up the mountain, slid down with a rope, and rode a war horse to chase after him.