Chapter 59: A Difficult Predicament
In the valley, the Sui army was unsheathed with swords and guns, stretched out bows and arrows, and was ready to attack. Waiting for the second attack of the enemy army.
By this time, it was already dark and it was late at night. At the mouth of the valley, the cold wind mixed with sand came overwhelmingly, sending out a scream like a ghost crying wolf.
Hundreds of carts lay deep in the valley, and the horses sleeping in a circle lay on the ground. And beside these horses, more than 3,000 people lay sideways beside their carts, gazing at the stars in the sky, begging God to bless them to live.
The wounded soldiers were huddled in a dark corner that could keep out the wind, their faces pale and painful, and although the wounds had been bandaged, they still hurt their hearts and lungs. In particular, several people had infected wounds, which led to fever and nonsense. This made the other wounded soldiers even more worried. After all, their strength is too far behind the enemy.
At this time, Luo Cheng's eyes were also full of anxiety, although he had fought with the Turks before, and he had also faced the line of life and death. But never before had he been so worried as he was today.
Because the victory or defeat of this battle is not only related to his own fate, but also related to the safety of the army's food and grass. If the grain and grass are looted or burned, the army will be defeated. So how did he explain to the Great General and the Holy Lord? At that time, he may not be the only one who is unlucky, but also his father Luo Yi, and even the entire family.
But Yu Chi Jingde was not afraid, for him, life was about fighting, and what he longed for was the opportunity to kill the Koreans. For this reason, the option of exile was even rejected. If he could die on the battlefield with the Koreans, he would not regret his death.
He stared at Yu Wenming at this time, and involuntarily touched the short knife on his body. For this new captain, he admires it from the bottom of his heart......
Although it was already late at night, the Sui army did not let down their vigilance, and they still left enough sentries to guard against the enemy's night attack.
It didn't take long for the enemy forces to move. As the lookout post on the top of the mountain gave a signal, the Sui army, who was sitting behind the stone wall, was napping and resting, immediately jumped up, grabbed the crossbow in his hand and rushed to the battlement.
They looked ahead, and in the moonlight, more than a thousand more enemies were pouring towards the valley. However, this time, the Goryeo army learned wisely, and no longer rode on horseback to rampage as a live target for the archers of the Sui army. Instead, he abandoned his horses, lay on the ground, and crawled forward.
As they crawled, they cleared the road of thistles and filled the trench with the dirt they had brought with them, which had caused them great casualties.
Yu Wenming also woke up at this time, quickly stood up, and stared intently at the approach of the enemy army, he had already discovered the weakness of this Goryeo army: that is, although they had strong combat effectiveness, they were not well equipped, especially the lack of siege equipment and defensive shields, so this was the reason why they had a large number of troops, but they have not been able to break through the Sui army's defense line. If this stalemate continues, they will most likely hold out until reinforcements arrive.
"Guy, look over here!" Guo Ziyi let out an exclamation here.
Yu Wenming frowned slightly, he had already seen that on both sides of the Goryeo army in front of him, a large group of Goryeo soldiers poured out. These Goryeo soldiers were in groups of four, holding a thick birch tree.
The birch trees were clearly cut down, and although the branches and leaves had long since dried up, they were still very luxuriant.
The Goryeo army stretched five or six large trees side by side to form a tree wall, and then slowly moved forward.
In this way, although they did not have a shield to protect themselves, this tree wall became their natural shield, and the Sui army's bows and arrows were shot, which would inevitably greatly reduce the killing effect.
Yu Wenming opened the kettle, drank a sip of cold water, moistened his throat, and then turned back to Luo Cheng and asked, "General Luo, is there anything on your cart that ignites fire?" ”
Luo Cheng thought for a moment, and then replied, "There are some fire oils!" However, there are not many of them, only twenty-five bags. ”
"Enough! Lift them all out, we'll have to get ready for fire! Yu Wenming immediately ordered.
With Luo Cheng's order, the Sui army immediately began to get busy, and they carried down the twenty-five bags of fire oil from the cart behind, and then poured them into several large barrels.
Hong Xiu instructed the people to carry down the cotton yarn loaded on another cart for bandaging wounds. The cotton yarn is torn into pieces of gauze, tied to the shaft of the arrow, and then placed in an oil drum to soak it completely. In this way, a rocket is done.
At this time, the Goryeo army was getting closer and closer to them. In particular, the tree wall at the front was only less than thirty zhang away from the stone wall at the mouth of the valley, and the Goryeo army behind the tree wall was already gearing up and preparing to charge.
At this moment, Yu Wenming lit a rocket on the torch, and then slowly pulled the longbow in his hand. The blazing flames danced happily before his eyes.
Just listen to "Whoosh! With a bang, the wolf's tooth arrow rose into the air with flames, and slashed a beautiful arc in the night sky, shooting into the row of birch trees that were already close to the stone wall, and nailed to one of the trunks in the middle.
The branches of the birch tree, which had been exposed to the wind and sun all winter, had already become very dry and could easily catch fire, and the rocket ignited the branches when it hit the trunk. In an instant, the raging fire spread.
The Sui army immediately cheered.
"Drop the rocket!"
Under Luo Cheng's order, countless rockets immediately took off into the air, flying through the air like fireballs.
Some shot at the branches and rekindled the flames; Others hit the trunk of the tree, fueling the fire; Others shot the Koreans hiding behind the trees, setting fire to the clothes they were wearing, causing them to scream.
And as the rockets increased, the fire on the birch wall became more and more ferocious, and the intense heat made it impossible for the Koreans to hold the trunk. They had to throw down the burning trees and turn and run.
But Yu Wenming was willing to let them go so easily, and under his order, the crossbowmen of the Sui army once again shot a dense rain of arrows with their crossbows, and more than 200 soldiers of the Goryeo Army fell to the ground again. Their attack that took advantage of the night once again ended in a crushing defeat.
However, after all, the Goryeo army was numerous, and there were inexhaustible trees nearby. In less than half an hour, under the supervision of Yuan Taije, the Goryeo army attacked again. And this time, the Goryeo people obviously learned wisely, which brought great trouble to the Sui army.
It turned out that on the orders of Wontaje, the Goryeo people melted the snow with an iron pot and then soaked the cut trees in snow water. Even the blankets they carried were soaked in snow water and then wrapped around their heads by the Goryeo soldiers who rushed ahead.
And in front of such a water-soaked tree wall, the enemy wrapped his head and face with soaked blankets, which really made it difficult for the Sui army's rockets to be effective for a while.
This time, Yuan Taiji invested 2,000 men to launch a strong attack, and he led his own soldiers to escort the battle behind, followed by a dense crowd of Goryeo soldiers behind dozens of wet trees. They trotted all the way, shouting the slogan "Goryeo will win" as they ran.
And among these slogans, there is also a loud howl from Yuan Taiji: "As long as you rush into the valley, kill those Sui troops, and all the supplies will be divided equally, and after you go back, Your Majesty will give you all a great credit!" Fields, houses, and women will be distributed to you! ”
When the Goryeo soldiers heard this, their morale was even higher, and they shouted wildly, rushing towards the valley like a tide. At this moment, the ditch had already been filled in, and the iron fern terrestris had been almost removed. Although the Sui army's arrows were still strong and dense, the Sui army's attack had been greatly weakened because the rockets had lost their effectiveness, and those ordinary wolf-tooth arrows were hindered by the branches and leaves of the birch trunks, which greatly reduced their lethality.
After a while, the Koreans got closer and closer, and they were not far from the stone wall. The people in front held the trunk of the tree to resist the rain of arrows fired by the Sui army, while the people in the back raised their bows and arrows diagonally upwards and began to shoot back.
Like hungry tigers, they approached the mouth of the valley in black pressure, and although soldiers were constantly killed by arrows in the process, someone immediately took his place, and then carried the tree wall and continued to rush forward.
The casualties of the Sui army suddenly increased.
After a while, Yu Wenming only listened to "Ah! With a scream, I looked back and saw a young Sui soldier in his twenties, who was shot through the throat by a stray arrow from the Goryeo army, and fell to the ground and died on the spot.
Not long after, another scream was heard, and a Sui archer standing on the top of the mountain was also shot by an arrow shot by a strong arm master in the Goryeo army, and then rolled down from the top of the mountain and died.
By this time, the Goryeo had already jumped over all the trenches and were less than ten zhang away from the first stone wall where the Sui army was located.
In the bright moonlight, they were like dark clouds, overwhelmingly killing, and the mouth of this narrow valley was already densely crowded.
Yu Wenming's eyes were like a meteor, and his arrows were like shooting stars, and he clasped two arrows with his fingers each time, and then fired them as soon as the bowstring was loosened.
Every time he fired a sharp arrow, two of them fell to the ground screaming. In an instant, more than 30 people were shot dead by him. However, there are too many enemies to kill. They had already rushed under the stone wall and began to grasp the gaps between the stones with their fingers, trying to climb up the stone wall.
And the Goryeo soldiers who were holding the big tree even simply hit the simple wall made of stones with the trunk of the big tree.
This stone wall was originally hastily built, and it would be more appropriate to call it a stone wall than a bunker. Where can it withstand such a violent collision. With the destruction and impact of the Goryeo army, the walls of the stone wall have been tilting continuously, and it is about to collapse.
"Brother Yuwen, I'm afraid I can't be beaten passively like this all the time! If the enemy is allowed to attack like this, the stone wall will be breached! At this time, Luo Cheng held a bright silver spear in his hand, walked to Yu Wenming's side, and said worriedly.
"Brother Luo Cheng, in your opinion, how should you deal with it?" Yu Wenming wiped the sweat from his face and asked. After all, it was his first time on the battlefield, and he was not very experienced in combat.