In later generations, Tianzhu County and Yongdeng County, at the junction of the two counties, had a more rugged and complex topography, with a large number of narrow river valleys that suddenly tightened.

Even twenty or thirty miles into Yongdeng County, the river valley has narrowed several times.

Any place here is very conducive to setting up an ambush.

Therefore, the 60,000 troops of the Gansu Military Division were always too careful to be careful, and the marching speed was as slow as a turtle crawling. Its vanguard had to stop after a long walk and search around the ravines and hills on both sides of the river valley.

The place where Yang Zhi chose to block was the last narrow place.

The width of the river valley is less than 900 meters!

There is a protrusion on the west side of the mountain wall, which extends diagonally to the southeast. The river also flows down the mountain to the southeast, bisecting the valley less than 900 meters wide.

If it weren't for the small amount of cultivated land here, it would be easier to defend and difficult to attack if it was to build a city nearby.

The Western Xia cavalry, who was responsible for opening the road, quickly detected the movement of the Ming army and hurried back to report the news.

"In the capital, the Han soldiers did not set up an ambush, but cut off the road with grain trucks in front. The river valley there is extremely narrow, less than two miles wide, and if you want to get there, you have to storm the Han army! ”

"How many troops are there in the enemy?"

"I don't know. On the mountainsides on both sides of the river valley, there were Han archers guarding them, and there were Han cavalry in front, so we didn't dare to get too close to check them. ”

After listening to the report, Li Renyi, the commander of the Gansu Military Division, said: "The King of Jin doesn't know where he has gotten, do you want to wait for him to attack first?" We just need to be shocked here. ”

The deputy capital is a little impatient: "Where do you have to worry too much?" Our army has more than 60,000 people, and first let the foot soldiers capture the hills on both sides and drive away the Han archers on the mountains. Then attack from the mountains and the river valley, and even if you attack strongly, you can take it there! ”

Ding Zhongyi, the prefect of Xiliang, said: "It's better to be cautious." ”

"You two, were you frightened by the letter asking for help? Be as careful as a woman all the way," said the ugly horse beggar angrily, "what kind of cannon that shook down the city wall?" Han Bing is not an immortal, where did he come from. If there really is, the Song soldiers have used it to fight in the past. ”

Ding Zhongyi said: "It may have been newly developed, just like the Divine Arm Bow before the Song Kingdom." ”

Po Chou Ma begged and asked: "If it is because we march too slowly, which leads to the destruction of the city of the Southern Army, or the defeat of the King of Jin, how should we listen to the fate at that time?" ”

Ding Zhongyi immediately shut up, although he was born in the Western Xia Wang clan, he was a Han after all.

And Li Renyi's identity is the prince, and the ugly horse beggar is from the eight clans of the party. With a big hat buttoned down, there was no room for Ding Zhongyi to speak.

Li Renyi thought about it and thought that the ugly horse beggar was reasonable.

Po Chou Ma Qi said: "I will personally lead the troops to capture the mountains on both sides, and you will send troops to break through the enemy's array." ”

The scout cavalry suddenly said: "Where the enemy troops are intercepted in formation, you can go around the ravine, and go around two or three miles behind them." ”

"Why didn't you say it earlier?" Li Renyi reproached.

The scout cavalry said: "It is indeed possible to go around, but the mountains and valleys are extremely narrow, and the enemy army only needs to divide two or three thousand troops to block tens of thousands of troops." ”

The ugly horse begged: "Divide thousands of troops to make a surprise attack, it is best if you can succeed, and withdraw if you can't succeed." ”

……

The Ming army's car formation did not cut off the river valley laterally.

Instead, it follows the Karogawa River, from northwest to southeast, and is arranged diagonally on the south bank.

Of the forty tiger squatting cannons, only ten were arranged in the river valley, and the remaining thirty were all on the hills on both banks.

In particular, the protruding ridge that narrowed the valley contained twenty Tiger Squat Cannons, which could cover the entire battle area.

The distance between the two sides was two or three miles, and the Western Xia army suddenly stopped, and only sent cavalry forward to harass and shoot arrows.

Po Chou Ma beggar led the infantry to climb the mountain, he himself led the troops to attack the west side of the mountain, and let his son lead the army to attack the east side of the mountain.

The Ming army on the hills on both sides seemed to be unable to stop the Western Xia soldiers, and they kept retreating after shooting a few bows and arrows.

The ugly horse beggar asked the herald to wave the flag, and then continued to kill along the hill to the south.

"The ugly general has won!" Ding Zhongyi was immediately pleasantly surprised when he saw the flag.

Li Renyi frowned: "The Han soldiers intercepted here and occupied a favorable terrain, which also defeated too quickly, right?" ”

Ding Zhongyi said: "The arrow is ready to be sent, and it has to be sent, so you can't watch tens of thousands of troops and let General Po Chou fight alone, right?" ”

Li Renyi thought for a while: "The terrain is too narrow to unfold, so first send 3,000 people to test, and the other 3,000 people will respond." If the war goes well, take the opportunity to cover up and kill, and if the war is not smooth, it can stabilize the army. ”

The 6,000 Western Xia army advanced slowly, because the Ming army was deployed on the south bank, and they had to cross the river to fight.

A large number of small boats used to transport military rations were used as tools to cross rivers after unloading military rations.

Not only is the valley narrow, but the river is also narrow.

The river even diverges, and the flow rate becomes extremely slow, and the narrowest fork is less than 10 meters wide, and you can walk directly through the riverbed during the dry season.

The passage where the Western Xia divided troops to attack had tributaries flowing into the Kaluo River, and there were several tributaries further south, so that the water volume of the Karogawa could be supported, and finally the river water flowed out of the valley into the Yellow River.

Due to the fear of running aground, the grain ship is extremely small, and can be carried upside down by more than a dozen people, and by the way, the hull can also be used to defend against arrows.

When these Western Xia soldiers came to the narrowest part of the river, they did not come by boat, but threw the upside-down boat into the water.

Small boats are stacked on the riverbed, as if trying to build a passage across the river.

The Ming army only shot sporadically, that is, did not shoot or fire.

On the hills on both sides, Po Chou Ma Qi and his son have been leading the troops to fight south, while the Ming army has been "defeated" and retreated, taking the initiative to give up several hills.

The ugly horse beggar rested for a moment on a hill, and when he saw that the friendly troops in the valley below had moved, he became even more confident: "Capture the hill ahead, and this battle will be a complete victory!" ”

They rushed down the hill and then up the hill ahead.

The mountains are dominated by laterite and rocky soil, with little rainfall, and the vegetation is not dense, with far more shrubs than large trees.

Hua Rong's Shenji Battalion was all arranged on the hills on both sides, scattered and mixed with various mandarin duck squads. On the hills on both sides, there are 3,000 infantry training mandarin duck formations stationed on each side, and half of the tiger squat artillery is arranged on the mountain.

Holding a bird gun in his hand and holding grass tendons in his mouth, Hua Rong watched the Western Xia soldiers climb the mountain.

After the enemy army climbed for a while, Hua Rong picked up the binoculars and began to search for his target. He belonged to the sharpshooter, and this distance was condescending, and there was enough time to aim, and he saw that the officer was a dozen and a dozen of them.

It doesn't matter if you can't hit accurately, there are 3,000 infantry to protect you, and the mandarin duck formation is holding the high ground, and the musketeers can fire the second and third shots at close range.

As the deputy commander of the Gansu Military Division, he took the lead in attacking the mountain. This guy is extremely burly, wearing dozens of pounds of armor, and climbing the mountain doesn't seem to be very affected.

Although he had no visor, he pulled it down and tied it together, covering his entire neck and half of his face, revealing only his nostrils, eyes, and half of his forehead.

With this ancestral heavy armor, the ugly horse begged to attack everything, and was shot into a hedgehog and still fought bravely.

"Great official of Western Xia?"

Hua Rong suddenly became excited, he didn't shoot immediately, he planned to get closer to be more sure.

The ugly horse beggar climbed closer and closer, and the squad leaders had already begun to release arrows, and two arrows landed on him. One was directly bounced off by the armor, and the other was shot into the gap of the armor, although it pierced into the flesh, it was not deep into the flesh, and it could only be regarded as a skin wound.

There were about thirty or forty meters left, Hua Rong was ready to shoot, and at such a close distance, he was at least ninety percent sure of the hit.

"Bang bang bang!"

Before Hua Rong could pull the trigger connecting the fire rope, suddenly there were musketeers shooting one after another, and there were more than one or two, at least hundreds of people aimed at the ugly horse beggar.

The ugly horse beggar was climbing the mountain well, but suddenly felt bitten by something, and the wound became more and more painful, and the impact of the bullet made his upper body lean back slightly.

He looked down and saw his chest, abdomen, legs...... I don't know when there are more holes, and blood is gurgling out.

Not only was the ugly horse beggar shot, but several of his own soldiers were also killed by mistake by the missed bullets.

"Bang!"

Another bullet flew in, hitting the center of the ugly horse's eyebrows.

Hua Rong smiled proudly: "This is called a god hand!" ”

The ugly horse beggar fell backwards and rolled down the hillside, and when the soldiers ran back to help him up, he was already too dead to die anymore.

Why do these Western Xia generals like to lead their troops to kill?

And rushed to the front, so I'm not afraid of death.

"The deputy commander is dead, retreat!"

"Retreat!"

The soldiers of the ugly horse beggar shouted in panic, and the rest of the generals hurriedly led their troops to retreat down the mountain.

"Kill!"

"Knock knock!"

Small snare drums beat on the top of the hill, and the 3,000 infantry rushed down in one go, followed by the musketeers who had not yet fired, and those who had already fired crouched in place to reload their ammunition.

Between charges, musketeers have been fighting officers all the time, sometimes firing at close range of meters.

This elite Western Xia infantry quickly collapsed, and they had already exhausted a lot of physical strength by attacking several mountains in succession, and they were far away from friendly forces. Not only was the main general dead, but a large number of officers were killed, and the retreat turned into a rout.

The same situation appeared on the east side of the mountain, and the son of the ugly horse beggar went to the underworld to find his father.

The Ming troops on the hills on both sides pursued for a while, and when they reached the mountain pass, they suddenly turned and rushed towards the river valley.

The 3,000 Western Xia soldiers who were responsible for receiving the friendly forces were immediately attacked from both sides. It's just that the Ming army on the west side did not rush directly in front of them because of the river blockage, but they shot arrows and released guns across the narrow river.

The sudden two-sided attack made these Western Xia soldiers flee in the wilderness.

The Ming army did not continue to pursue, but turned around and attacked the Western Xia soldiers at the forefront. The 3,000 Xixia soldiers were throwing boats into the river, not only were they attacked from both sides, but the Ming army also began to shoot arrows frantically in the direction of the large array.

Besieged on three sides, instantly defeated.

The 500 cavalry accompanying the army did not wear armor, lying on horseback and swimming directly, the ten-meter-wide river quickly passed, and then rode to chase and kill the collapsed Western Xia soldiers.

Until this time, the Tiger Squat Cannon had not been fired.

One after another, the defeated troops fled back, Li Renyi was shocked and angry, and asked, "Why are they all defeated?" ”

The ugly beggar's own soldier said: "The general was originally leading us to attack the mountain, and as we were crawling, I heard a sound and saw the general fall and roll down. There were a lot of small holes in the body that were bleeding, and the heavy armor had been pierced. We retreated with our whole army, and the Han soldiers pursued and killed, and there was another noise, and many generals fell down in confusion. ”

Li Renyi swallowed his saliva, it turned out that those in the letter asking for help were true!

(End of chapter)