Chapter 434: Hunting

50,000 stone of grain was enough to transport more than 500 carts. It was not the horses that pulled the carts, but the oxen. First, horses are used to form cavalry, and is it not a waste to use them to pull carts? Second, the strength of the ox is much greater than that of the horse, although it walks a little slowly.

Coupled with the cavalry escorting the front and rear left and right, the entire grain transport team was two or three miles long.

During the long journey from Pyongyang to the Yalu River, the 8,000 cavalry consumed a large amount of military rations.

As soon as these food trucks left Pyongyang City, scouts were watching their every move along the way. Although these Korean soldiers felt very wrong, as if they had a pair of eyes staring at them, the scouts who sent out to search found nothing.

If you keep walking north, you will reach the edge of Sasui. At this time, it was already dark, and the Goryeo soldiers had no choice but to set up camp in Sasu, preparing to cross Sashui again tomorrow.

When Emperor Yang of Sui conquered Goryeo for the second time, when the 300,000 troops crossed the water, the Goryeo people who had already built a dam in the upper reaches opened the sluice gate and released the water to impact the Sui army. Of the 300,000 troops, only 2,700 remained. This battle completely changed the situation of the war against Goryeo, which was huge at that time.

If it is winter, the riverbed of this Sashui River is dry, and the deepest part is no more than the waist of no one, so at that time the brigade marches directly from the river. However, it was July, and it was the rainy season in Goryeo, and the water was so strong that the bare riverbed in winter was flooded. Therefore, these Korean soldiers had no choice but to transport men, horses, grain and grass through pontoon bridges erected over Sasu.

This pontoon bridge was built when Yuangai Suwen led an army of 100,000 to defend the Yalu River. Fishing boats are placed side by side, fastened with iron chains, and covered with wooden planks for men and horses to walk together. As for the ox carts carrying grain, they can also accompany them, but they must be cautious.

There were originally ten such pontoons, but after the passage of the army, seven were withdrawn, and now only three remain. The Goryeo soldiers prepared to cross the three pontoon bridges and cross the Sasu.

Because this pontoon bridge is extremely easy to destroy, before the convoy arrives, there are already hundreds of cavalry guarding these pontoon bridges to prevent those elusive Tang troops from destroying the pontoon bridge.

However, at this time, the Tang army did not ambush the pontoon bridge at all to destroy the pontoon bridge, but conscientiously cut down the trees three or four miles upstream.

Sharpen the end of the cut tree with the knife you carry with you, and then place it horizontally on a shelf made of two inclined trees next to it. The low end of the sloping shelf is facing the sashui, and the sharpened logs will roll directly into the sashui when they are placed on it, but there are two erected logs that block the sharpened logs and prevent them from rolling into the sashui. As the number of logs on the shelves increased, the two erected logs gradually tilted in the direction of Sashui.

"Okay, I'm afraid that's enough!" Looking at the six piles of sharpened logs on the shore, the cloud pine wiped his sweat and muttered.

These more than 100 logs are the masterpiece of his 300 cavalry for a day.

"All that's left is to wait for the signal tomorrow!" As he said this, Duan Yunsong glanced at a conspicuous position downstream. There, a tall, thin tree stood. There was also a figure sitting next to it.

Not only that place, but every dozens of feet, in a conspicuous position as far as the eye can see, there is such a tall and thin tree, which extends to the vicinity of the pontoon bridge.

The Tang Army has arranged it here, and the Goryeo Army is also arranging it.

"General, will those Tang troops really appear?" In the cavalry camp by the Sashui side, an adjutant general asked the general who was leading the army.

The general said in an unquestioning tone: "Of course! These Tang troops have always been treacherous, and they may launch an attack when our army crosses the river. Didn't the Han people say, 'Attack it halfway'? If a part of our army had just passed, they would have appeared to cut off the pontoon, and our army would have been divided into two sections. When the time comes, the Tang army will be fighting with our army on the other side, and I can only stare and watch here. ”

"Oh, I see! Listening to the general's words, if they don't cut off the pontoon, it will be a failure? ”

"Not bad! So I'm going to defend this pontoon bridge to the death! Then the cavalry rushed over and exterminated these Tang troops! ”

On the second day, when the sun jumped over the horizon, the Goryeo army had already eaten and was ready to cross the river.

The three pontoon bridges were crowded with people and vehicles, and General Goryeo sat in the army, and several lieutenants coordinated the crossing of the river.

The cavalry went to the bridge first. The cavalry dismounted and walked on foot, leading their horses and slowly walking to the opposite bank. Since there is a boat under your feet and not a bridge, you can feel a shaking when you walk on it.

These cavalrymen were also well-trained, and although their feet swayed, they still slowly crossed the pontoon bridge without changing their faces.

Then came the ox cart. A ox is already extremely heavy, and now it has to add the vehicle behind it, so the ox cart walks on the pontoon bridge and sways even more. The scalper also came out of fear and made a "moo" sound.

In this way, the cavalry and ox carts gradually passed through the three pontoon bridges at a slow pace.

There were more and more Goryeo soldiers and grain carts on the north bank of Sashui, and by noon, nearly 2,000 cavalry and more than 100 ox carts had gathered on the north bank of Sashui.

However, none of the Goryeo troops saw that a tall and thin tree had fallen on the edge of the upper river beach more than ten zhang away from the pontoon bridge.

It seemed to be a chain reaction, and all the tall and thin trees fell.

"General Duan Lang, it's down, it's down!" Sergeant Tang, who was in charge of observing the situation, saw the fallen tree and couldn't help but say excitedly.

"Good!" Duan Yunsong slapped his thigh excitedly, "Put these things down for me immediately!" ”

The soldier pulled the rope that was tied to the erected log. In an instant, the sharpened logs rolled down into the water. Under the impact of the current, dozens of logs rise and fall, drifting with the waves.

Then came the second team, the third pile.

When all these logs fell into Sashui, Duan Yunsong watched the logs gradually disappear into view along with the surging river, and shouted fiercely: "Brothers, it's time for us to go!" ”

Another group of Korean cavalry boarded the pontoon bridge and prepared to walk to the north bank of Sasu. However, halfway through the journey, they suddenly heard a burst of exclamations, and hurriedly looked back, only to see the Goryeo soldiers behind them all looking at the upper reaches of the Sashui River. Just as the cavalry on these pontoon bridges were about to look upstream, they suddenly felt a shaking under their feet, and the shaking was so violent that they could barely stand on their feet. Then, it seemed that the planks under his feet began to tilt. I couldn't control my body, and I was planted in the water all of a sudden.

However, those Goryeo soldiers who stood on both sides of the Sashui River saw a different scene.

I saw hundreds of arrow-tipped logs rushing straight towards the pontoon bridge under the impact of the waves. The powerful impact force hit the boats under the pontoon, knocking them out of big holes in an instant. Immediately after that, a wave struck, and the boat gradually sank. As the boat sank, the planks that had been placed on top of the boat also fell into the water. Shaking with the undulations of the waves.

The first pontoon bridge was destroyed by this log. The cavalry standing above did not care about the horses, and threw themselves on the nearest ship that had not yet been sunk. As for the ox cart, after a long and mournful roar from the ox, it sank to the bottom of the river.

The first pontoon collapsed in an instant.

However, the logs were still more than one, and through the gap left by the sinking of the boat, they continued to rush towards the second pontoon. This time, however, the impact was much smaller, as many logs got stuck between the boats and failed to sink them. Occasionally, a few boats sank, and the impact on the entire pontoon bridge was not significant.

Just when the Goryeo soldiers on the north and south banks of Sashui were dumbfounded, the Goryeo soldiers on the north bank suddenly heard the sound of shouting and killing.

Everyone was agitated, and hurriedly lined up to meet the enemy.

Before the formation was set, a Tang cavalry of nearly 3,000 people came to cover it.

First, the morale of the Goryeo soldiers dropped greatly because of the destruction of this pontoon bridge, and secondly, they had not yet lined up in formation, how could they resist the impact of the Tang soldiers?

The Tang sergeants were like tigers and horses like dragons, rushing into the Goryeo cavalry and slaughtering them on a large scale.

It was almost a one-sided massacre. The Tang army divided a force of several hundred men to defend the pontoon bridge, and the remaining knights fought in the Goryeo army. Whenever the Goryeo soldiers on the pontoon bridge tried to rush up to support, the Tang army guarding the pontoon bridge would shoot sharp arrows and shoot the charging Goryeo soldiers down the river.

Half an hour later, the Goryeo soldiers on the north bank were slaughtered. Immediately afterwards, these Tang troops did something that made the Goryeo soldiers angry. I saw that they drove the oxen carts to the river, and then unloaded the oxen and pushed the carts into the river.

Seeing the truckloads of grain and grass being pushed into the river, the Goryeo soldiers on the south bank of Sashui only felt blood dripping from their hearts.

The angry Goryeo cavalry rushed towards the two remaining pontoon bridges, however, in the face of the Tang army's crossbow arrows, on such a narrow bridge, almost every arrow fired, one of the Goryeo soldiers planted in the river. After rushing in vain, more than a dozen people had died, but the grain carts on the other side were getting fewer and fewer. The Goryeo commander had no choice but to halt this futile charge.

After the Tang army on the opposite side pushed all these grain carts down Sasu, the weapons of the Goryeo cavalry that were killed in the battle were gone.

Looking at the distant figure of the Tang army, the Goryeo army was speechless.

"Haha, this time it's really comfortable!" Cheng Wuting sat on the horse, galloping, and said with a smile.

Zhang Yunwen also smiled: "This time, I almost folded 10,000 stones of grain and grass in Goryeo, presumably Nayuan Gai Suwen is in a hurry at the moment!" ”

The crowd burst into laughter again.

"My lord, what will happen to our army next?"

Zhang Yunwen squinted his eyes and pointed to the north: "From Sashui to Yalu River, this distance can be long!" I'm waiting for a chance! ”

At this moment, a horse galloped from the north: "My lord, my lord, it's not good! ”

Zhang Yunwen saw that someone was coming, but it was one of the scouts, and hurriedly asked, "What's the alarm?" ”

The scout took a breath and said, "My lord, a large number of Goryeo cavalry have appeared in the north, and it is estimated that they are coming for us!" ”