Chapter 261: The Battle of Life and Death (Part I)
Erdunke and his party left Mukden in a hurry, and he looted all the treasures in the imperial city and the belongings in Mukden City, and loaded two hundred iron-walled chariots. They planned to go straight to Yanmen Pass through Yunzhou www.biquge.info bypass Jizhou, but the road was not smooth. Along the way, a group of rebels attacked day and night, making the speed of Erdunke's brigade extremely slow, when they finally got out of Yunzhou and approached Jizhou, in addition to the rebels, there was also the Jizhou army of the Flying Tiger Legion.
The opponent changed from the Righteous Army to the Flying Tiger Legion, and his combat effectiveness increased one by one, and Erdunke seemed to be trapped in a swamp and could not move an inch. At this time, Bozhou Gao Lang had already captured Yunzhou and led an army of 100,000 to follow. In the direction of Jinyang, Zhuang Dafu and Ye Yuanzheng led the army to sweep the heavenly wolf cavalry behind the palace, and the soldiers pointed directly at Fengtian. At this time, Fengtian was already an empty city, Zhuang Dafu and Ye Yuanzheng received an order from the commander-in-chief Ximenqing, ordering them to send a part to Fengtian City, and the rest of the men and horses rushed directly to Yanmen Pass to encircle Erdunke to relieve the pressure on Zhang Deyi and Ma Qimeng. So Ye Yuanzheng led 50,000 horses to kill Fengtian, and Zhuang Dafu led 100,000 iron horsemen to gallop towards Yanmen Pass. The Flying Tiger Legion is as fast as a whirlwind. Along the way, although the wolf riders behind the palace resisted desperately, they could not stop the crushing of the armies of all walks of life. The precious time that the Celestial Wolf Riders had exchanged for their blood and lives was wasted little by little because of the unwiseness of Erdunk.
On a hill one hundred and fifty miles from the border of Jizhou, a series of tents were densely packed, and the temporary camp of Erdunke was stationed here. In the Golden Horde of Erdunke, Mu Chunli was arguing fiercely with Erdunke.
"Your Majesty, at this point, you should give up all your baggage, leave only food, grass and weapons, empty all the iron-walled carts, and build a defensive line on the road to block the enemy."
"No, there are so many materials on the iron wall car, as well as various technical materials and classics of Dayan, these are too precious, and they cannot be given up for the rise of the Heavenly Wolf Empire in the future."
"Your Majesty, the most precious thing is people, as long as we join forces with Hua Gai Shu's army, our strength is ten times that of the Zhenbei army, we will be able to break through the defense line and return to the grassland, and we will be able to join forces with Dingyuan City and defeat Yan Hui's army. But now with these supplies holding us down, we're too slow. There are interceptions in front and pursuers in the back, and every moment is precious. I suggest that the baggage be dropped immediately, and those old men should also join the blocking force, while the rest of the army and subordinates should be lightly armed and quickly move closer to Yanmen Pass. Your Majesty, time is running out, and the blood of the Heavenly Wolf Cavalry soldiers behind His Royal Highness cannot be shed in vain. β
"This, Rong Zhen thinks."
"Your Majesty! Time is running out, now is the time to go. β
"Mu Chunli, do you still look like a courtier? Are you going to force the palace to fail? β
"The minister is loyal to the empire, and His Majesty will understand in the future. Come! β
With Mu Chunli's greeting, the officials guarding outside the tent rushed into the big tent. Mu Chunli said to them loudly: "Your Majesty plans to leave overnight, you should prepare immediately." Except for the grain, grass and weapons, all the other materials were discarded, and all the materials in the iron arm car were scattered, and all the classic materials were handed over to the Golden Wolf Guard. Order all the people over the age of fifty to stay here and work with the troops behind the palace to stop the Flying Tiger Legion. Divide the belongings of the Iron Wall Carts with them, and tell them that even if they are all killed in battle, they will not be able to let the Flying Tigers cross the line of defense. β
The officials were about to turn around and leave, but Erdunke angrily scolded Mu Chunli.
"Bold Mu Chunli, if you dare to commit a crime, you ---"
"Your Majesty, now the minister has no time to quarrel with Your Majesty, wait until the crisis is over, kill and survive, and listen to the respect. Come, protect Your Majesty and the Empress and set off. β
One hundred and ten golden wolf guards rushed in, they didn't know who to listen to, Mu Chunli was furious when he saw it, he took out the long knife on his waist and pointed at the golden wolf guard and shouted: "When life and death are at stake, I can't care so much." If you don't listen to me, Your Majesty will fall into the hands of the Flying Tiger Legion. Come on! Whoever dares not to listen to me is to correct the Dharma on the spot. β
As soon as the golden wolf guard swarmed up, he picked up Erdunke and left, and Erdunke kicked and scolded angrily. Mu Chunli arched his hand at him and said, "Your Majesty, go, the minister will be cut off for Your Majesty." β
After finishing speaking, Mu Chunli walked out of the tent with a long knife.
"Mu Chunli, you rebel and thief, I want to kill you. Chunli, go with me. β
Mu Chunli, who walked out of the tent, smiled when he heard Erdunke's call, turned to face Erdunke and bowed deeply.
"Brother Erdunke, Mu Chunli will say goodbye, if there is an afterlife, Mu Chunli will still follow the eldest brother. Come on! β
Gao Lang's army of 100,000 quickly approached the camp of Erdunke, and in the distance Gao Lang saw a line of defense on the horizon, and he looked carefully with his clairvoyance, and found that it was built with iron-walled chariots. Behind the defensive line was a dense crowd of wolf riders and Rong troops.
"Summoned Huang Shenghan and asked him to transfer the artillery. Ben was in too much of a hurry, and did not bring field artillery, and it was difficult to quickly break through the enemy's defense line with mortars. Passing on our military order, the Bozhou army took a break to prepare for the big battle. β
"General Qiqi, General Huang Shenghan's Jizhou Army is rushing here, and the artillery will be in place in another hour."
"Array."
"Yes."
The infantry of the Bozhou Army was in the center, and the cavalry was on both sides, slowly approaching Mu Chunli's defensive line. Stopped three miles from the defensive line. At this time, the artillery of the Jizhou Army arrived, and more than 40 field guns were quickly put in place, and the two fortified guns that arrived afterwards made the Bozhou Army jubilant. These two cannons could not have come at a better time, and bombarding the defensive line with a fortified cannon that could knock down the walls was as easy as smashing a walnut with a hammer. In order to allow the two huge cannons to arrive quickly, Huang Shenghan requisitioned a hundred pack horses and galloped desperately, and there were as many as thirty tired pack horses along the way. However, in order to be able to break through the defense line quickly, these losses are really nothing.
"Hahaha, the friendship of Shenghan will be ashamed, and after the war, Ben will definitely invite him to drink. Artillery, attack! β
The earth-shattering roar shook the earth, and Mu Chunli, who was lying on the roof of the iron-walled car, felt that his internal organs had shifted their positions. The sturdy defense line of the iron-walled car was now blown apart like papier-mΓ’chΓ©, and in the center of the explosion was a splattered of blood in addition to the severed limbs and stumps. Mu Chunli's body and face were covered with shredded flesh and blood, and his guards desperately dragged him off the iron wall car and to the command tower behind the defensive line.
"Phew, what kind of weapon is this, is it the so-called assault artillery and field artillery. With this kind of weapon, is there still an opponent in this world? Order the whole army to fight to the death, hold on as long as you can, for the sake of the Heavenly Wolf Empire, let's die here for our 80,000 people. Ballista, shoot! β
Without Mu Chunli's orders, the ballista team had already started shooting. However, compared with the fortified artillery and the field artillery, both the range and the power are not the same, the fortified artillery focuses on destroying the defensive line, and the field artillery focuses on attacking the ballista team and densely populated areas.
It didn't take long for the defense line composed of nearly 200 iron-walled cars to be blown to pieces, and the fortified artillery raised the muzzle and began to bombard the depth of the defense line. Every time a shell landed, it would set off a bloody storm, and Mu Chunli's 80,000 horses were bombed with heavy casualties before they could officially engage the Bozhou army.
"Hahaha, this battle is cool. The artillery maintained the density of the bombardment, and the whole army sorted. β
Gao Lang gave the order to attack, and with the sound of a loud trumpet, the large formation of the Bozhou army approached the defense line shrouded in artillery fire. When they approached more than a mile, another military horn sounded, and the cavalry on both wings of the Bozhou army's large array immediately flattened their horses and urged the horses to gallop towards the wolf. The infantry still maintained their formation, but they were all running with their waists and legs scattered, the rumbling footsteps shook the earth, the dense formation was unstoppable like a rushing flood, and the rows of spears, knives and crossbows made the sound of clashing from time to time, and also shone with a dazzling cold light.
"Shoot!"
With the captain's order, a dark cloud rose above the running array, and a dense rain of arrows flew to the head of the wolf rider and smashed down. The sound of crossbow arrows piercing people's ground and shields was as dense as raindrops hitting the windows, and the wolf riders who were dodging the artillery fire were screaming at the sudden rain of arrows, and the corpses were scattered all over the field after only one round covering the defensive line.
The sound of rumbling horses' hooves came, and 40,000 cavalry roared into the defensive line, and the galloping horses' hooves trampled into pulp in the sky wolf cavalry and Rong tribesmen who had no time to dodge. The horses stabbed straight and the swords slashed, and the 40,000 cavalry swept through the defense line like a whirlwind, repeatedly charging and killing in the wolf cavalry. Because they were within the defensive line, many of the soldiers of the wolf rider did not ride their horses at all, and they were like a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered in the face of the galloping iron horsemen. When a gray-haired old subordinate picked up a thunderbolt and rushed towards the Bozhou cavalry, countless crossbow arrows nailed him to the ground, and with a loud bang, he turned into minced meat and splashed everywhere.
However, his actions alerted the soldiers and subordinates of the Celestial Wolf Cavalry, who rushed to the Bozhou cavalry with thunderbolts and howls, but were stopped by the infantry who rushed into the defense line with a dense rain of arrows. The mortars carried by the infantry had been erected by this time, and shells were fired after the Sky Wolf Cavalry that had launched a decisive charge. Often a single shell can cause a chain of explosions, and the wolf riders fall one by one, and the corpses in the defense line are like mountains, and the blood is flowing like a river.
Mu Chunli, who was on the tower, looked at everything in front of him, looked at the soldiers and subordinates who sacrificed their lives to charge, and stayed with tears in his eyes, he knew that 80,000 soldiers and civilians could not stop the attack of the Flying Tiger Army. Now I can only hold on and try to delay as much time as possible before everyone is killed. But even this wish did not come true, with the sound of military trumpets from the east and west, Huang Shenghan's Jizhou cavalry, Zhuang Dafu's Jinyang cavalry rushed to the battlefield, and entered the defense line without pause. The defense line, which was already barely supported, collapsed in an instant, and there were Rong troops and wolf riders everywhere, and there were soldiers of the Flying Tiger Legion galloping on horses everywhere. The entire defense line was instantly filled with flying tiger battle flags, and only the full moon wolf flag of the Rong Department was left behind Mu Chunli. (To be continued.) )