When the fire in the Mongolian camp in the west of Dunhuang City had not been extinguished, the flames that rushed to the east of the city once again engulfed the east, and the Mongolian infantry army, which was still in strict battle and was preparing for the second attack, fell into irrepressible chaos this time. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Tang Zhen stood at the head of the city and watched the Mongolian army retreat in a chaotic manner, he didn't know who was outside the city. It stands to reason that the Mongol Tartar army failed to attack the city, and the Huihui artillery would inevitably retaliate against the city, but the Huihui artillery was still silent, but the direction of the stone projectile thrown before the Huihui cannon, and the continuous sand dunes were illuminated by the fire.

"Nine times out of ten, the Mongolian Tatar cannon was burned." Liang Yanwu frowned and walked to Tang Zhen's side and said in a deep voice.

"The return cannon was burned?" Although Tang Zhen had a lot of speculation about this possibility in his heart, his heart still skipped a beat when Liang Yanwu took a bite, and he couldn't help but look up at Liang Yanwu, "But according to the information sent in by the six doors last time, the Tianxiong army should be far from arriving so quickly, not to mention that the closer it is to Dunhuang, the more defenses the Mongol Tatars will inevitably lay down, so if you want to attack and advance, the time consumed will definitely be longer than the time to march directly." ”

Liang Yanwu said in a deep voice: "Do the Mongol Tatars really have enough troops to stop the Tianxiong army? ”

"Huh?" Tang Zhen was stunned by Liang Yanwu's words, and his face suddenly showed a stunned expression, and he immediately nodded, "This is true, the Mongolian Tartars originally ambushed a large number of soldiers and horses in the camp north of the city, and then there were many siege foot soldiers stationed in the camp in the west of the city, so they were able to support the north of the city in time." But in addition to these, there is also the real main force of the eastern part of the city attacking the city. According to our original speculation, the Mongolian Tatars are encircling and sending reinforcements, so now the main army of the Mongolian Tatars in front of us is unknown. ”

"Whether the Tianxiong army is here or not, our previous speculation is probably wrong," Liang Yanwu said helplessly, "Because the Mongol Tatars did not plan to encircle the point and send reinforcements at the beginning, but to concentrate all their forces to attack Dunhuang." ”

Tang Zhen gritted his teeth, if this is the case, all the facts can prove it now. The reason why the Mongol Tatars sent a large number of sentry horses to Yumen Pass, Yangguan and Hexi was to tell the Tianxiong army and the Tubo people that they had the illusion of encircling and sending reinforcements, so that the reinforcements on both sides could only advance cautiously, which gave the Mongols enough time to attack Dunhuang, and even if a small number of troops were allocated to defend in key areas along the way, it was entirely possible to give the enemy the illusion that there was a strong enemy here, so as to make a judgment that the road ahead would be more difficult.

The Mongolian Tatars can be said to have a perfect hand to hide from the sky and the sea, hiding the people in the entire Dunhuang City, the Tianxiong Army, and the Tubo people. It's just a pity that the sudden fire burning in the east of the city now silently shows that the Mongols still fell short in the end.

"If the Tianxiong Army didn't come, who would it be?" Liang Yanwu frowned, I am afraid that even His Majesty the Emperor has not seen through the trap of the Mongolian Tartars, so even if the Tianxiong Army understands it, it will be too late, and it is impossible to kill Dunhuang City so quickly.

"We're outside the city, and there's a cavalry." After being silent for a long time, Tang Zhen finally said the judgment he had obviously considered before in his heart. In fact, he didn't want this judgment to come true, after all, the 8,000 cavalry of the Shence Army went on an expedition to Xingxing Gorge, and only 2,000 cavalry came back in the end, and even Wang Jin, the general of the Shence Army, was seriously injured, so it can be said that the remaining 2,000 cavalry are the main force of the Shence Army.

This time the troops were sent to attack at night, if it weren't for the fact that the Shence Army had to crack the threat of artillery and fire oil to the city, Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu would definitely not have sent cavalry to serve as the main force of the night attack. However, according to Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu's previous plan, the two thousand cavalry should attack the unguarded camp, and it is easy to achieve results and return safely.

However, if this cavalry directly attacked the main army of the Mongol Tatars under the leadership of Huo Liang, perhaps their initial attack would catch the Mongol Tatars off guard, so as to achieve the purpose of entering the Huihui artillery position and burning the Huihui artillery, but this also means that once the position of the Mongolian Tatar infantry is stabilized, unless the two thousand cavalry escape into the Gobi, there is only one possibility of dying in battle.

The Mongolian Tatars were originally known for their cavalry, and these cavalrymen lived in the steppe Gobi almost since childhood, and the two sides launched a chase battle on the Gobi, and it was already predictable who would win and who would lose. Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu were not so arrogant as to think that the cavalry of the Shence Army was invincible at all times.

The cavalry of the Shence Army had already shed too much blood by the Hongliu River, and Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu naturally didn't want to watch the cavalry seeds that Wang Jin had desperately kept so hard to be wiped away.

Just when Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu were still a little suspicious, a head ran quickly to the two of them, and said: "Qi Qi two ministers, the cavalry out of the city sent ten people to escort the Mongolian Tartar captives back, and the rest of the cavalry went straight to the east of the city under the leadership of Commander Huo. ”

"So-and-so has seen it." Looking at the sky illuminated by the fire in front of him, a wry smile appeared on the corner of Tang Zhen's mouth. And the head of the capital was also stunned, and looked at Tang Zhen's gaze, with a heavy look on his face. Anyone can see that the surprise attack on the large array with light cavalry now seems to have achieved a brilliant victory, but this cavalry team is probably also very lucky, after all, they have to bear the revenge and anger of the enemy a thousand times first.

"Don't make a noise just yet." Liang Yanwu commanded, the victory in front of him could not be erased, as for what kind of blood price was paid behind this, Liang Yanwu didn't want the soldiers in the city to know so early. After all, when it comes to these cavalry soldiers who participated in the Battle of Hongliu River in the city, who doesn't give a thumbs up? But now the morale in the city is high enough, if it continues to rise, it can only arouse the anger and killing intent of the soldiers, if a large number of soldiers are invited to fight out of the city at that time, then Liang Yanwu and Tang Zhen can't suppress it.

Du Tou nodded, and Tang Zhen asked again: "Has anyone surrendered from the Mongolian Tartars?" ”

"According to the brothers who returned, the Mongol Tatars guarding the camp did not resist at all, and the rest of the camp was basically empty." Dutou hurriedly replied, "My subordinates didn't believe it before, but I saw that there were a lot of prisoners, and there were no injuries on their bodies, so I had to believe it if I didn't believe it." ”

Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu glanced at each other, and Liang Yanwu commanded in a low voice: "Let the people below take good care of it, no matter whether these Mongolian Tartars really surrender or fake surrender, we can't take it lightly, now is the critical time for Dunhuang to defend the city, and there can be no chaos!" ”

Du Tou cautiously replied and turned to leave.

While the rest of the soldiers were celebrating the repulsion of the Mongol Tatar attack, the smiles on Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu's faces had been replaced by solemnity, and the two of them stood side by side at the head of the city and looked at the firelight in the distance, and their hearts were already full of thoughts. I don't know how long it took, Liang Yanwu sighed softly:

"In an eventful season, I hope that those who fight can triumph."

――――――――――――――--

In the firelight, the Ming cavalry rushed down the sand dunes, and the flames cast their shadows on the sand dunes behind, magnifying them infinitely, making these Ming cavalry look like the yaksha from hell, and the direction of the red horse lance and saber in their hands is the direction in which death comes.

At this moment, in the cold wind and blazing fire, the common heaven seemed to no longer protect his people, and the red lotus karmic fire broke free from the shackles of the Yellow Spring, broke through the confinement of the earth's surface, and brought its anger and punishment to this world, devouring all those who did not dodge and those who once ravaged the world.

The huge return cannon had been engulfed in flames by this time, and the rocker arm of the trebuchet was burned clean because the wood supported underneath was burned clean, so it folded directly downward, and smashed heavily into the middle of the stone bullets. The piles of rocks that had been held in place by ropes were burned by the flames, so they rolled along the wind and the gently sloping sand dunes.

"The gravel of a river is as big as a bucket, and it walks with the wind all over the rocks." Grabbing the reins of the horse, Huo Liang couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "I thought that such verses were exaggerated by poets before, but I saw it with my own eyes today, and I knew that this was true!" ”

The surrounding cavalry soldiers also looked at the stone bullets rolling under the dunes with amazement on their faces, and only then did they understand why the Mongol tartars had to be secured with ropes. This cold wind, which is like a knife cut, has proved to the world that the strong wind in Hexi is strong. Especially at this moment, with the blazing red lotus karmic fire, the night wind also continued to strengthen, blowing this soul-scorching flame in all directions.

The Mongols' position has been completely messed up, after all, the spiritual pillar of the Mongolian Tartars is this return artillery, and now the return cannon has been burned clean by the cavalry.

Huo Liang didn't know if the choice he had made before was the right one, but he didn't regret that he had ordered it. Although Huo Liang knew very well that the main purpose of the night attack of the Shence Army was the fire oil of the Mongol Tartars, because the ladder cart carrying the fire oil was indeed a deadly threat to the defenders on the city wall.

But in the final analysis, the deterrent power of fire oil is still not comparable to that of return artillery. This kind of giant trebuchet made by Huihui craftsmen for the Mongols can be said to be the most powerful trebuchet in the world for thousands of years, and even to a certain extent, the power has exceeded the artillery and flying thunder cannon on the side of the Shence Army, after all, most of the artillery used by the Ming army is still small-caliber artillery, and the firing range is not as large as the Huihui cannon, which can only rely on the penetration of solid bullets and the explosion of flowering shells to reflect its lethal power, so it can be said that the Ming Dynasty is still at a loss in front of the Huihui cannon.

However, the power of the Huihui cannon on the city wall actually exceeded or even far exceeded the fire oil, so the Mongol Tatars also concluded that the Ming army would attack the Huihui artillery camp. However, the Ming army's sword went sideways, and directly aimed at the storage oil camp that was barely guarded by many people, and the Mongols were obviously caught off guard, but not to mention Huo Liang's own opinion, Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu, who made this plan, had to acquiesce to the fact that they burned down the fire oil camp, although the purpose of destroying the Mongolian Tatar layout and disrupting the rhythm of their attack was achieved by night attack, but the actual effect was not significant.

After all, the burning of the oil was only one less means of attack for the Mongols, and the return cannons and ladder carts that were the basis of their siege were actually unharmed.

Therefore, Huo Liang immediately decided to make a dangerous move, and led these two thousand high-spirited Ming soldiers to find a suitable opportunity to directly burn the Mongolian Tatar return artillery. Perhaps God wanted to give Huo Liang this opportunity, and the sentinels exploring the road in front sent news that the Mongolian Tatar return cannon was not in the original northern camp, but had been assembled in the east of the city.

Hearing this news, Huo Liang naturally understood that there was really not much time left for him, and he had to bite the bullet this time. Because he didn't know what the preparations were like in the city, the return artillery assembled in the east of the city, apparently intending to take advantage of the night and chaos to raid the city. Once the preparation in the city is not sufficient, it is really possible to go down to the city in a battle with the combined force of the return cannon and the ladder car.

And at this moment, Huo Liang also understood the layout of the Mongolian Tatars tonight. Both sides treat their opponents as prey and set traps on each other, and in the end, neither of them gets into anyone's trap, which makes the real weak links of both sides all against the main force of the other side. In other words, both sides have crashed headlong into the trap they have set for themselves.

Once the Mongol Tatars succeeded in attacking in the east of the city, it would be a nightmare for Dunhuang City and the Shence army. Therefore, Huo Liang must find a way to destroy the return cannon that posed the greatest threat to the city wall.

The Mongols obviously did not expect that the cavalry of the Ming army would reappear behind them in a circle, and even returned to the back of the artillery position with only a few dozen cavalry guards, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is pretending. Therefore, when the Ming cavalry came out of the moonlight and rushed back to the artillery position, the Mongols did not even come to their senses, until the thistle terrestris exploded around them and the torches were constantly thrown on the artillery position, and the Mongolian cavalry guarding the artillery position woke up like a dream.

But it was too late, because Huo Liang led two thousand cavalry and had no intention of entanglement with the Mongol Tatars, and the most important thing after achieving the goal was to save his life. What's more, Huo Liang didn't dare to imagine how he would face Wang Jin's entrustment at that time if he insisted on cutting off the two thousand cavalry, so he did not hesitate to order to turn his horse's head, kill directly from the panicked Mongols, and jump out of the dune depression where the Huihui artillery position was located before the Mongol army in front of him returned to help.

So there was a scene that Tang Zhen and Liang Yanwu saw on the city wall, and the flames rose to the sky, tearing the sky. And the sound of killing spread all over the mountains, and all the Mongol Tartars, after a short period of panic, killed the enemy directly from all directions with red eyes.

At this moment, it seems that the Dunhuang City behind is no longer worth mentioning, the fire in the north and west of the city originally made the Mongolian soldiers hold their breath, and the failure of the attack on the city just now, these carefully selected elites of the Mongolian army were naturally very unconvinced, and as a result, Huo Liang was sent to the door with two thousand cavalry at this time.

That's it, but who would have thought that these cavalry would burn back the cannon with one fire.

The blazing torch-like return cannon is a pillar of shame that the Mongolian infantry can never forget. All the Mongol foot riders have already killed the red eye. Dunhuang City may not be able to conquer, but these rampant Ming cavalry must pay the price for what they do!

And this price can only be death!

The Mongol cavalry came up from both sides as if they were crazy, like crab claws that were wide open so that they could be killed with greater force. was slapped in the face by the Ming cavalry who had been coming out of the ground like this, and these Mongolian cavalry naturally couldn't bear it. Originally, they had always regarded themselves as cavalry and superior in front of those Mongolian foot soldiers, and if they couldn't prove their abilities now, I am afraid they would really not be able to raise their heads. The man on the grassland must not be despised as a waste of war.

Arrows kept flying past him, and Huo Liang lay on the horse's back, just twitching the horse fiercely. On the Gobi, which was getting farther and farther away from Dunhuang City, the 2,000 cavalry were scattered far away, as small as gravel moving with the wind. And those arrows are also because of the wind and the movement of the war horse, and most of them can only serve as a deterrent.

The footsteps of the war horse under his crotch finally paused, although he was still trying his best to run forward, but Huo Liang already knew that this loyal guy would not be able to hold on. The low sand dunes and the long Gobi seemed to be endless, and Huo Liang did not feel that these sand dunes could be used as a basis for defense.

With a low sigh in his heart, Huo Liang subconsciously looked back and looked in the direction of Dunhuang.

After all, I still lived up to General Wang's expectations!

The horses were strangled fiercely, and the men stood up.

The horse lance in Huo Liang's hand was lifted against the strong wind and aimed at the Mongolian Tatar cavalry that was getting closer and closer.

All the cavalry followed their commander to a halt and turn their horses' heads.

The lance reflected the light of the moon, and the armor rattled in the wind.

"Yellow sand wears gold armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will not be returned if it is not broken." Huo Liang's voice was low, but his cold gaze seemed to tear everything apart. (To be continued.) )