Tho Meng is facing a tortoise formation.

On the side facing the narrow channel, the ditch is widened to a width of two meters. The earth and stones excavated from the trench built a defensive wall one meter eight high.

On the other two sides were wide channels, and there were no trenches and earthen walls, but they were sharpened with bamboo and stuck in the ground, and sprinkled with thistles. After the bamboo and thistle, there are two rows of wooden hedges.

There is a cage fort in the mountain behind the village, and there are 300 township soldiers and 500 barbarian soldiers stationed in the village, which can not only guard against the fierce circle, but also can cooperate with the village under the mountain.

The day after he arrived on the other side of the river, he tried to cross the river and attack.

It was easy to cross the river from the narrow side of the river, but the wide ditch and one-man-high earthen wall seemed to be a natural danger to the barbarians.

It was even more difficult to pass from wide channels, and a large number of flattening artillery projectiles were fired. Some stone bullets are the size of fists, and some are the size of stone bullet heads, and they are smashed into the river like hailstones. Even if you are lucky enough to cross the river, you have to dodge the sharp bamboo and thistle terrestris rushing forward, and then there are two wooden fences.

The best result of the battle was when a group of brutes braved arrows and toppled the first wooden fence. When they reached the second wooden fence, they were stabbed and scattered by pikemen who were waiting for their work.

He sent elite troops to try to occupy the back mountain, and the defenders nested on the mountain and could not come out. This elite army can only run back, because if they don't run again, they will be attacked from both sides by the defenders up and down the mountain.

For ten consecutive days, the Han soldiers just stuck to the village, and had no intention of fighting hard.

Tho was in a dilemma, and he had no choice but to lose his temper at his younger brother: "Why did you lose this kind of dangerous place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack?" ”

Bu Su defended: "Too many troops have defected, and I could have defended it." ”

Tho said angrily: "The Han people know how to dig a very wide deep ditch, why don't you dig a wider ditch?" ”

Busu said: "There are not so many hoes. ”

Tho Meng: "......"

The barbarian hoes were all bought from Lizhou, and they were mainly smuggled, because the government did not allow pig iron equipment to flow out.

Qiongbu Chuanman's own blacksmith is not enough to build weapons, how can it be possible to build a hoe?

Their farming skills have been excellent, and in recent years they have learned to cultivate. The mountain tribes were even worse, they were slash-and-burn farming, one tribe occupied several mountains, and took turns burning the wasteland to grow food.

Zhu Ming and Yu Wenchang, why can't they stick to it?

Because I'm waiting for Huan to play a role!

……

On the twelfth day of the confrontation between Tho Meng and the Han soldiers, barbarians came from the south and west to report the news.

Henan Man, Azong Man, and the indigenous Bai Man, when they learned that Qiongbu Chuanman had suffered a defeat, and the main force was pulled out to fight against the Han soldiers, these tribes attacked the villages of Qiongbu Chuanman.

The territory of the Qiongbu Sichuan Barbarians is full of wars, and they have made enemies everywhere for decades, and now they have finally eaten the evil fruits of being attacked by a group.

South of the Dadu River and west of the Luoluo River, there are a large number of Henan barbarians scattered in the mountains.

These Henan barbarians, who originally lived on the south bank of the Dadu River, were some familiar people who could speak Chinese. They were first attacked by the two forest barbarians, and then by the Qiongbu Sichuan barbarians, some of them fled to the Han land on the north bank of the Dadu River, and some fled into the mountains and forests to cultivate the wasteland.

Henan barbarians live extremely hard, but they also have a very high degree of sinicization, and they have been farming in the ravine for more than ten years, and they have gradually recovered some strength.

Now, Henan Man has seized the opportunity to go out of the mountain.

These acquaintances were not persuaded by Huan, because they were in the wrong direction.

Before Yuwen sent troops, he had already sent people to lobby Henan Barbarians. But they did not dare to act rashly, and they kept watching from the sidelines until they heard that the Han army had won a great victory.

Chen Huan contacted the two forest barbarians, the Azong barbarians and the indigenous Bai barbarians, and the three barbarian tribes flocked north to the edge villages of Qiongbu and Chuanman, and more than ten villages have been breached.

After receiving the news of the fall of the village in the rear, the Han soldiers on the other side of the river could not defend it, and Tho Meng didn't know what to do at all.

"Abba, it's better to surrender, this battle can't be fought." The fourth son, Ah Fan, persuaded.

Wuzi Tho said slyly: "If Abba surrenders, he will not be able to be the master of a hundred barbarians, and I don't know how much land and population have been taken away by Han officials." ”

Ah Fan said: "Even if you can't be the great ghost master of the hundred barbarians, you can finally be the big ghost master after surrendering." If you continue to fight like this, you won't even be able to save your life! ”

"Big brother's revenge will not be avenged?" Tho asked slyly.

Ah Fan asked, "How to take revenge?" ”

The two sons quarreled, and Tho Meng listened even more irritably.

He now wants to surrender a little, but he is afraid that even if he surrenders, he will be killed by the Han officials.

Tho Meng said to his fourth son, Ah Fan: "Do you dare to go to the Han soldiers to spread the message?" I don't feel at ease if someone else goes. ”

Ah Fan replied: "Why don't you dare? ”

Tho Meng said: "I told the Han officials that I am willing to surrender, and I will send someone to the Great Song Emperor to pay tribute." I don't want to be the Great Ghost Master of the Hundred Barbarian Capital, but at least let me be the Great Ghost Master. Pugulong and the surrounding thirty villages, let me rule, and I can do without the rest of the land. ”

"Yes!" Ah Fan was ordered to leave.

In the afternoon of the same day, Ah Fan only brought one person with him, and he dared to cross the river by boat.

Yu Wenchang and Zhu Ming were notified and ordered not to release arrows.

When Ah Fan saw him, he knelt down and kowtowed: "My Abba has already known that he was wrong, please forgive me." ”

Yuwen often asked: "Why didn't he dare to come and ask for guilt?" ”

Ah Fan explained: "Abba knew that he had committed a big sin, and he was afraid that he would be too stubborn to blame, so he sent me over first. ”

Yuwen often said: "If you want to surrender, immediately order the brute soldiers to lay down their weapons, and Tho Meng personally came to my camp to ask for forgiveness." ”

Ah Fan said: "Abba, as long as Pugulong and the surrounding thirty villages, please let us go and don't order the pursuit." When my Abba leads the troops back to Pugulong, he will withdraw the warriors from the rest of the villages, and the Taishou can send troops to occupy those villages. Abba would also send people to pay tribute to the emperor and ask for the emperor's forgiveness. ”

Yu Wenchang thought about it carefully: "You go back, I still have to discuss this matter." ”

Ah Fan knelt down and retreated, showing extreme humility.

When this person left, Yuwen often asked, "What do you think of success?" ”

Zhu Ming smiled: "A boiled duck, can you still let him fly?" ”

Yu Wenchang said: "The Qiongbu Chuanman has already suffered heavy losses, and they can't be let fall down, otherwise the two Linman will inevitably take the opportunity to rise." The fall of a Qiongbu Sichuan barbarian, but the rise of a two forest barbarians, this is equivalent to our battle in vain. ”

Zhu Ming said: "Of course, we must let Qiongbu retain a certain strength, but Tho Meng must die!" He was notorious among the barbarians, and his prestige among the Qiongbu Sichuan barbarians was extremely high. If you let him live, and let him continue to occupy the fertile land in Pugulong and the surrounding areas, I am afraid that within ten years, this person will make a comeback! ”

Yuwen often thought in silence.

Zhu Ming continued: "Moreover, it is possible that Tho Meng is a fraudulent surrender. In the name of surrender, he led his troops back and went all out to meet the barbarians who were attacking the rear. Throw down a bunch of villages for us to take over, disperse our forces, and maybe at some point they will suddenly come over! ”

Yuwen Chang nodded and said, "There is a reason to worry about success. ”

Zhu Ming said: "If you continue to hold on to delay time, Tho Meng can't help but withdraw sooner or later." Hundreds of elite soldiers can be sent to set off from the back mountain, detour to the south, and ambush in the river valley. As soon as Tho retreated, the main force of our army slowly followed, and when it reached the place, it could be attacked from both sides. ”

"It's a feasible plan." Yuwen is always as good as a stream.

After waiting for two more days, Tho Meng could not get a reply from the Han people, and finally made up his mind to withdraw the army.

The withdrawal of troops is fake, and the lure of Han soldiers across the river is real.

This guy still wants to fight, since he can't break through the Han army's village, then pull the Han soldiers out to fight, and he is fighting a decisive battle in the field.

Tho Meng first sent two elite troops to retreat and ambushed them in the place where they had to pass through on their way south.

If the Han soldiers chased after him, the ambush soldiers came out, and he himself turned back with the main force to cover the kill.

If the Han soldiers do not chase after them, then they will really withdraw their troops and go back to fight those rebellious barbarians.

Due to the low morale of the whole army, Tho Meng also held a ghost worship activity.

When retreating, Tho Meng personally led the headquarters to prevent the Han soldiers from killing, and the fake retreat turned into a real rout.

Zhu Ming stood on the top floor of the cage fort, carefully observed with a telescope, and found that the barbarians had retreated to a certain extent, and said with emotion: "This thief chief is a real general, no wonder he can run rampant in all barbarian places." ”

Yuwen often borrowed the telescope to look at it for a while: "Are you still chasing?" ”

"You must chase it, just keep it from afar!" Zhu Ming said, "To go to Pugulong, you must withdraw the army for one hundred and fifty miles, I don't believe that he has not missed a flaw." ”

After the main force of the barbarians withdrew several miles away, Zhu Ming ordered the whole army to cross the river, leaving only some barbarians to defend Luo Luolong.

The two sides retreated and chased, always maintaining a distance of six or seven miles.

In the mountains and valleys that passed ahead, Zhu Ming sent a search team to check on the mountains to prevent Tho Meng from setting up ambushes.

Tho Meng had no choice but to withdraw the ambush soldiers.

At the same time, like Zhu Ming, he also sent elite soldiers to search the mountains as a vanguard, forcing Zhang Bo's ambush soldiers to cross the river and return to the east bank.

With such caution, the ambushes on both sides were ineffective.

However, during the withdrawal of the army, they were followed by the enemy all the time, and the psychological pressure of the fierce soldiers was extremely great.

They rushed to kill, hundreds of horsemen were wiped out halfway, and the attack was ineffective for many days, and the villages in the rear were also attacked by the barbarians, and the morale of the army had already plummeted.

Sensing that the atmosphere was wrong, Tho Meng didn't dare to retreat anymore.

He chose a relatively dangerous riverside village, summoned the big and small ghosts to give a lecture, and made a confident appearance: "I am not withdrawing troops this time, but luring the Han people over." Previously, it was the Han people who held out, and it was difficult for us to attack. Now the Han people have no village to defend, I will go to the decisive battle tomorrow, I am the great ghost master of the hundred barbarians, the ghosts and gods will bless me, and the Han people will definitely lose the battle! ”

The big and small ghost masters suddenly realized that they admired Tho Meng's wisdom incomparably.

But there are also some ghost masters who have other thoughts in their hearts. They were worried that their villages would not be safe, and the barbarians would take advantage of the fire to loot in the south, and if they did not solve the Han people early, they would suffer heavy losses even if they won the battle.

The benefits are fierce, and the losses are theirs.

Knowing that Tho Meng had chosen a dangerous place to camp, Zhu Ming also stopped marching and camped five miles away from the enemy.

The two sides continued to consume, and Zhu Ming was not in a hurry anyway.

The longer this side drags on, the more villages the barbarians will be able to capture, and the drag will also drag the army to the unstable.

Sun Shu quietly met with a few Han thieves: "Tho Meng will definitely be defeated, tonight we will set fire to the village, make a mess and run." After the fire broke out, if the officers and soldiers took the opportunity to kill, we would cooperate with the officers and soldiers in the battle. If the officers and soldiers do not come, we will go to the officers and soldiers, and setting the fire will be regarded as meritorious service. ”

(End of chapter)