It should be said that Gushan's self-confidence is not without reason, this beacon is almost the crudest of the many fortifications of the Ming army on the border, but it is also the most difficult to take down, the reason is very simple - the beacon does not consider the convenience and living comfort of the garrison at all. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info figuratively said, Fengsui is a high four or five zhang high, the top width of about four or five zhang square a rammed earth mound, the top often has one or two cabins, in the middle of the mound there is a tunnel that leads to the bottom, and then dig out a hole, soldiers usually go up and down from the internal rope ladder. When besieged, the defenders fled to the top of the beacon and then put away the rope ladder. It is not difficult to see that the beacon has a fatal weakness - the defenders are almost unable to attack, and the besiegers can trap the defenders by blocking the only exit. But the only role of the beacon is to give early warning, there are very few people inside, as long as a small amount of food can hold out for a long time, and they face the enemy is mainly nomadic cavalry, lack of siege technology and weapons, and it is difficult to hold out for too long.

Taniyama forced his subordinates to quiet down with his fists and feet and the hilt of his sword, and when he returned to his post, he saw a hand grasping the edge of the female wall, and in the light of the fire of the village below, he could clearly see this hand, thick fingers, full of calluses, wearing a horn wrench on his thumb, and the nails were full of dirt, he pulled out his saber, pointed the tip of the knife at the back of his arm, and a leather helmet appeared behind the hand.

"Long live Daming!" He stabbed it hard, blood splattered everywhere, and Gu Shan fell down before he could see the face clearly. Before Gu Shan could catch his breath, the next person appeared, this was a young man with sharp hands and feet, he held a scimitar with his teeth so that he could climb with both hands, he climbed over the female wall at an astonishing speed, but before his first leg could hit the ground, Gu Shan stabbed him in the abdomen. The young man threw himself back with astonishing agility and fell off the wall, a dull sound and a terrible scream coming from below.

The attackers did not have ladders, but after years of rain and snow, the four walls of this beacon were not so steep, and the attackers could climb up along the gaps. Someone also tried to climb up from the hole in the center, but Wang Yike, who was waiting for the rabbit, easily stabbed him with a spear, and the latecomer quickly learned a lesson from the fool in front of him and attacked from the outside instead. The air was filled with the smell of blood, smoke, and steel, Wang Yike looked around, and found that there were shadows flickering everywhere, some people had fallen, and more people had filled the vacancy, he raised his saber, but for a while he didn't know which way to go, there was death everywhere.

Gu Shan scuffled with a person and fell, Wang Yidao hurriedly pounced and stabbed the man in the back twice, but found that the leader had a knife stuck in his stomach, and he wanted to pull out the knife to bandage the wound, but was blocked by Gu Shan.

"Don't do this, the thorn is too deep, I can't do it anymore!" The muscles on Gu Shan's face twitched painfully: "You come instead of me and lead everyone to beat the Tartar down, otherwise everyone will have to play!" ”

"Yes, yes!" Seeing that Gu Shan's breath was getting faster and faster, Wang Yike could only nod his head and say yes, but his heart was a mess and he had no clue. At this time, he climbed up from under the female wall and threw Wang Yike to the ground, and the two scuffled. Wang Yike's strength was not as big as that person, he was pressed under him, and he choked his neck hard, and in a panic, he reached out and grabbed something, and threw it at the man's face, but the man ignored it, but he just wanted to strangle Wang Yike to death with his hand. Seeing that Wang Yike's eyes were black, and he was about to pass out, the man suddenly screamed, covered his eyes with his hands and screamed loudly. Wang Yike took a few breaths before coming back to his senses, only to find that what he was holding in his hand was a handful of quicklime, it turned out that they wanted to repair the hut on the top of the beacon a few days ago, and moved some quicklime up, and the remaining half was not used up, and Ian piled it aside, but he didn't expect to use it at this time.

"Quick! Splash them with lime! Wang Yidao shouted loudly, while tearing open his clothes and wrapping lime for everyone, and splashed the heads and faces of the Mongolians who were climbing up the wall.

"What's going on?" Neqi scolded angrily, seeing that this beacon was about to be taken down, but seeing his own people fall one after another, and the success was lost, this frustration stimulated his heart, as if he was bitten by a rat.

"Tell the Great Khan, the guards above the beacon splashed our people with lime, and many of them had their eyes burned."

"Bastard!" Neqi scolded: "What's the big deal about this, can't you block it with a shield?" Take them down, I'm going to chop them all alive! ”

"Great Khan, there is no ladder, and at night, there is no way to use a shield when climbing the wall!"

Nezi calmed down, as his subordinates had told, there was no ladder in a hurry, and it was in the dark of night, and it was okay to climb the city with both hands and feet, and if he still held the shield with one hand, there was a chance that he would fall.

"Okay, you send a few people, build a few ladders, and wait until dawn to give them a good look!"

Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was already five watches, and from the opening of the city gate, you could see the moon that was about to set, and the moonlight shone on the pine forest on the hillside in the distance, giving it a circle of silver edges.

Dulbert jumped on his horse and took the helmet from the hands of his own soldiers, he was about to put it on himself, when he saw Du Ruhu walking down from the city tower, he turned around and asked, "What else is going on?" Shogun? ”

"Do what we agreed upon!" Du Ruhu's expression was a little worried, obviously he was a little worried about the first battle.

"Understood!" Dulbert smiled: "With artillery and so many birdmen, I won't do anything stupid!" ”

"That's good! Remember, tread carefully! Seeing that Dulbert was so easy to speak, Du Ruhu's face looked better, and he turned sideways to make way out of the city gate. Dulbert turned back and whistled, and the cavalry marched out of the city in four columns, followed by two hundred jumpers, all of whom were veterans of at least two battles, dressed in iron helmets, cuirasses, skirts, shoulder armor, hand armor, iron gloves, and shin guards, and usually armed with heavy weapons such as axes, two-handed machetes, shields, and horse chestnut hammers; Behind them were the main spearmen of the infantry corps: four hundred men in all, generally wearing only iron helmets and cuirass, and only a few wearing skirts and shins; At the back were a squad of four hundred shooters, usually dressed in fur hats and armour; Behind the squad were two three-pounder guns, with an elaborate gun carriage drawn by four horses, and behind the gun carriage were two large carts containing 300 rounds of shells in wooden boxes with different color markings to distinguish between solid and shotgun.

Soon, the distance between the cavalry and the infantry was widened, and under the guidance of the guides, the cavalry ran very fast. Dulbert was pleased to find that the sound of the horse's hooves was quieter than he had thought, thanks to the straw bales and flannel tied to the horses' hooves. Great Immortal Heaven, let the enemy still sleep! Durbot prayed in his heart.

"My lord, cross the small river in front of you and you will reach Heishiyu!" The guide pointed to the front and said, at this time the sky has appeared a piece of fish belly white, with the help of this morning light, Dulbert can see the slightly bright river, he turned back to the subordinates behind him and whispered: "Pass on, stop first!" ”

The orders were quickly passed down one by one, and the cavalry slowed down, and Dulbert rode to the side of the road, and climbed a locust tree, and with great agility he climbed the highest branch, and saw the protruding chimneys of the village, and a few thatched huts gathered by the river, and most of the rest of the huts were burned, and near the entrance to the village there was a small wooden bridge, beside which there was a low stone house.

Durbot continued to climb outwards until the branches began to droop and could not bear his weight. Seven or eight Mongols were lazily carrying something next to the chimney, and wisps of green smoke rose from the chimney, and a man led a few sheep outside the stone house by the river and began to slaughter them, and the cries of the sheep before they died were clearly recognizable.

"Great, the enemy didn't notice anything!" Durbert bit his lip to avoid making a sound, and he jumped down the tree, climbed on his horse, drew his sword, and shouted, "The thieves have just woken up!" Divided into three ways, we killed them one by surprise! ”

By the stone house, Haller sullenly led a sheep to the river, and it was not easy to get up by the stove that had to be warm early in the morning, for they had not slept under a roof for almost a month, and finally they could sleep in the house today, but they lost the lot, and had to get up early to prepare a sweaty breakfast. As if sensing the end of the day, the sheep struggled fiercely and bleated. Halle's sophisticated wooden basin was placed on the ground, and then a single knife cut the sheep's trachea and artery, and the sheep's blood splattered into the wooden basin, and suddenly emitted a white mist. The sheep's struggle soon weakened, and at last only dying spasms remained, and Halle, seeing that the blood was almost gone, turned the sheep over, and with a single knife slice open its belly, and began to skin it skillfully. Seeing the hot entrails running to the ground, the dogs, already huddled around them, barked violently - according to Mongolian custom: lamb belonged to the herdsmen, and the offals belonged to the best friends, the sheepdogs. According to the old custom, Haller bowed to the immortal heaven with his palms folded and threw his intestines into the dogs, but instead of fighting for the delicious food as usual, the dogs barked louder.

"That's not right!" With years of experience, Haller immediately sensed the abnormality and that the dogs were not fighting each other for food, but sounding the alarm for approaching strangers. He turned and saw a shadow of horsemen rushing towards the river, at least two or three hundred horsemen.

"Enemy attack! The Ming army is coming, the Ming army is coming! Haller left the unskinned sheep and turned around and ran into the village, screaming with all his might, but the cold wind poured into his throat and drowned out the cry again. Suddenly he felt a pain in his calf and fell to the ground, and Halle, not daring to see what he had been hurt, got up and limped towards the village, and the next second a short spear pierced his vest and pinned it to the ground, less than twenty paces away from the dead sheep.

Dulbert rode up to Halle's side and pulled a spear from the corpse, a short spear about a meter and a half long that he preferred to use instead of a horned bow, as it was a cleaner way to take out his opponent than a riding bow, and it was also a melee weapon. In his more than 20 years of battlefield career, Durbot has seen warriors who can still shout and fight with more than a dozen arrows in their bodies, but if they are not killed by him, they will only have half a breath left.

In the village not far away, there was a rumpet sound, it was the Mongols who had been raided and sounded the alarm, and by heart, the Mongols had reacted quickly, but it was still not enough. The Mongols who rushed out of the thatched huts and tents were shot down and hacked to death by the raiders, and those who were still in the houses and tents were even worse, and the raiders threw torches on the roofs of the huts or simply threw them into the tents; Dried cowhides and straw were good fuel, and screams soon erupted from the lit huts and tents, and a humanoid ball of fire rushed out and rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish it, but a blow of "mercy" awaited them.

"The number of enemies is much smaller than expected!" After killing the butcher, Durbot never went into battle again, he stood calmly by the stone house, observing the battle. According to the information from the beacon fire, the number of attackers last night should have been no less than fifteen hundred, and the enemy in the village would not have exceeded two hundred. Either the enemy army left only a small number of guerrillas after plundering the village, and the main forces were withdrawn overnight; Either the main forces of the enemy army for some reason did not camp in the village. The former is unlikely, and it is not easy to march overnight with captured people and livestock, and perhaps some unexpected captives will run out, after all, most of the captives are locals and know more about the terrain than the invaders.

As if to confirm Dulbert's suspicions, a rapid trumpet sound was heard from the north, and it was clear that the leader of the enemy army had also spotted the raiders who were taking advantage of the dawn and sounded the horn of a counterattack. Dulbert sneered, unhooked the horn from his waist, blew three short times in succession, and then took out a rocket from the leather pouch on the left side of the saddle, lit it on fire, lit the fuse, and with a snort, a flash of fire shot straight into the sky, and burst into a cloud of sparks.

"Pass the order, pause forward!" Seeing the rockets in the sky, Du Ruhule stopped his horse, he looked at the surrounding terrain, and immediately ordered the infantry team to deploy, the spear team was lined up in eight chessboard-shaped phalanxes, lined up, the shooting team was in front of the spear team, the jumping team was at the rear, lined up in a sparse horizontal line, the two three-pounder guns were arranged in front of the leftmost phalanx, and Du Ruhu himself climbed a small mound in front of the formation surrounded by his own soldiers. (To be continued.) )