In the mountainous area north of Shouyang, there is a Yangxing Valley Village, which controls the passage to Wutai County.

It was in the hands of Jin Bing before, but now he has given it up.

This village is too far away from the city of Jinguo, and there are all valley roads in the mountains along the way, and it is necessary to transport military rations from Dingxiang or Wutai.

There were too many golden soldiers stationed, and the transportation of military rations could not be afforded.

The Jin soldiers were stationed too little, and they could not withstand the attack of the Ming army.

The rebel armies in Wutai and Dingxiang counties also played a huge role. Unable to bear the oppression of the Jin people, they fled into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare, and attacked the Jin soldiers and grain transport teams out of nowhere.

Originally, it consumed a lot of grain to Yangxing Valley Village, and the righteous army in the mountains often attacked and harassed, and Wanyan Zonghan had to send troops to escort grain and grass.

After doing this for a few months, the Jin people's military rations could not bear it, so they simply abandoned this military village and instead garrisoned troops at two valley mouths further north.

The rebels of Dingxiang and Wutai counties were overjoyed, and the mountainous areas in which they were active were finally connected to the territory of the Ming army.

Zhang Guangdao immediately sent armor, clothes and food to the rebels, and the replenished Shanxi rebels made the Jin soldiers even more troublesome. From time to time, they crossed the mountains and mountains, bypassed the valley where the Jin soldiers were stationed, attacked the rich households who took refuge in the Jin people (many rich families were really wronged), and also went to intercept and kill the puppet soldiers and officials who went to the countryside to collect grain.

If the Jin soldiers are killed, the rebels can always get the news in advance and immediately flee into the mountains to hide.

Once the Jin soldiers left, the rebels went out of the mountain again.

The gentry of Dingxiang and Wutai counties were looted back and forth by the Jin soldiers and the rebels.

Many of the gentry were bankrupt, and they felt that the Jin people did not have an advantage, so they simply secretly contacted the rebels, or sent their sons to join the rebels. At the same time, he also wrote to contact Zhang Guangdao, saying that he was willing to give the Ming army an internal response, and only asked the Ming soldiers to quickly kill and regain the lost territory.

After the wheat harvest in Shanxi this year, and the grain was not handed over, Zhang Guangdao quickly dispatched troops to attack Chitang Pass and Shiling Pass at the same time.

There are two throats from Taiyuan to Xinzhou, and Yelu Yujian escaped from Chitang Pass. At that time, Chitang Pass was still in the hands of the Ming army, and last year, after Yan Zonghan's army went south, he took Chitang Pass again.

Attacking Xiongguan, there is no trick to speak of, and there is no way to go around the mountain and detour.

Anyway, the army was stationed outside the pass, dragging the iron cannon out every day, and bombarding the city with all its might.

Due to the terrain, there are not many places where artillery can be arranged, and only seven or eight cannons can be used at the same time for each fortress.

Not only was the artillery delivered to Zhang Guangdao, but Zhu Ming also transferred all the musketeers to Shanxi.

Wanyan Zonghan organized the army to go out of the customs many times, wanting to destroy or snatch the artillery of the Ming army. But the slopes on both sides were full of musketeers, and if someone was sent in the middle, no matter how strong the golden soldiers were, they couldn't rush through.

"Boom, boom!"

One after another, Yan Zonghan was numb to hearing it, because the shelling lasted for more than 40 days.

These two Xiongguan were built in the period of Zhao Guangyi, and were reinforced again in the Qingli period, and they were continuously shelled for more than a month before they collapsed.

Last year, Chitang Pass was taken away by Jin soldiers, which was caused by Zhang Guangdao's initiative to shrink the defensive line. Otherwise, thousands of more people will be stationed and enough grain will be stored, and no matter how powerful the Jin soldiers are, they can only catch the blind.

"Zhang Gong, Kaifeng has transported three hundred barrels of gunpowder, and the iron bullets from Cizhou have also been transported to Shouyang!"

"Good, continue shelling tomorrow."

The main battlefield in Shanxi needs to be broken through the Xiongguan before it can be launched. If one place is broken at will, the Ming army can go north to Xinzhou, and it can also send partial divisions to kill Dingxiang and Wutai.

Zhang Guangdao didn't panic at all, his grain and grass were very sufficient, and it was the household department that kept shouting that the food was not enough.

Today's shelling finally ended, and watching the Ming army change their guards in an orderly manner, Wanyan Zonghan was restless.

Wanyan Zonghan couldn't do anything else except defend the city.

No matter how elite the cavalry and infantry of the Jin Kingdom are, they are useless at this time.

Chitang Pass is located on the flat land of the valley, and Shiling Pass is located on a stone ridge between the valleys. The mountain road outside the pass has been blocked by the Ming army, not only muskets and artillery erections, but also a large number of crossbowmen, waiting for the Jin soldiers to come from the narrow valley to send them to death.

Under normal circumstances, the Golden people are the defenders, and this terrain is greatly advantageous.

But the Ming army has artillery!

"Marshal, there's another crack in the wall." The soldiers came to report the information.

After Yan Zonghan went to check it in person, he hung the basket in the air and reached out to compare the new crack, this time it was two fingers wide.

It can last more than 40 days without collapsing, and the Guancheng built by the Song Dynasty is already very qualified.

What more could you ask for?

Wanyan Zonghan also set up some small and medium-sized return cannons on the city wall and threw stone projectiles at the artillery positions of the Ming army.

But with little effect, when the Ming army arranged the artillery, rammed earth fortifications were built, and so far only two artillery pieces and more than a dozen gunners have been hit by stones.

"Boom!"

On the 56th day of the shelling, with a loud bang, the eastern wall of Chitang Pass collapsed in a large area.

However, the bombardment of the Ming army did not stop, and the frequently used artillery was replaced, and several more guns that had been repaired were brought in.

And to follow?

Wanyan Zonghan was completely speechless, you guys hurry up to attack the city, don't attack everywhere, do you want to bomb Chitang Pass to the ground?

On the fifty-ninth day of the shelling, there was another loud bang, and the gap that had been blown down before fell next to another section of the city wall.

"Keep shelling and storm the city tomorrow." Zhang Guangdao finally gave the order.

The next day, a series of women's walls were pushed out from the camp of the Ming army, and the siege soldiers hid behind the women's walls and slowly advanced.

The artillery of the Ming army was still bombarding, covering the friendly troops approaching Guancheng.

Behind the women's wall, there are six Linchong Lu buses.

Each Lu bus is on four floors, and six musketeers stand on each floor, who can fire cold guns at the golden soldiers in the gap.

More musketeers, but following the Lady Wall.

The small and medium-sized return artillery on the Guancheng began to throw stones against the Ming artillery, smashing into the slowly advancing Xingnu wall.

"Boom!"

A stone smashed on the wall of the girl, sawdust flew, three Ming soldiers were killed on the spot, and several others were injured by the splashed sawdust.

At the forefront, of course, it was Wang De's Yaksha battalion.

The Yaksha battalion has been expanded to 1,000 people, with Wang De as the chief general and Cao Wu and Xu Qing as deputy generals.

Cao Wu was a subordinate of Wu Jue, and in history, the Jin soldiers attacked Monk Yuan, and he won a heads-up victory in front of the battle, which greatly boosted the morale of the Song army.

Xu Qing is a subordinate of Liu Qi, and is also nicknamed "Yaksha" in history.

These three are all warriors of the Western Army, and they can all play heads-up.

And the soldiers of this Thousand Yasha Battalion are also the best of the best, and it is enough for Zhu Ming to be a heavy armor guard.

They were all dressed in new armor, and since they entered through the gap, they did not have to climb the stairs with their hands free, so they all held shields in their left hands and hammers in their right.

"Bang bang bang!"

The musketeers in Lu's bus were the first to shoot at the gap, but because the distance was too far, only a few people were hit.

However, there were several artillery pieces, which kept shelling the gap.

One of the shells fell into the formation of the golden soldiers, killing and injuring several people in an instant.

As the wall approached, the golden soldiers in the city also began to shoot arrows, hitting the cowhide on the outer layer of the wall, making a muffled sound of chopping and chopping.

After two rounds of arrow rain, with a few whistles, hundreds of Ming musketeers stood up from behind the Xingnu wall and fired at the Jin soldiers at the gap dozens of paces away.

"Boom!"

The Linchong Lu bus was too tall and was hit by a thrown stone. The upper two floors were smashed into a large hole, and although they did not collapse and were destroyed, two musketeers were killed and three musketeers were wounded.

"Shoot!"

The Ming archers behind the Xingnu wall, after approaching further, threw crossbow arrows at the breaches and the golden soldiers on the city walls.

The first few rows of women's walls, getting closer and closer to Guancheng, have already entered the dead end of the projection of the return cannon.

At a distance of twenty or thirty paces, more than 300 musketeers fired freely at the golden soldiers at the gap.

After a burst of gunshots, Wang De shouted, "Go! ”

Taking advantage of the gap in the defense, the Jin soldiers were thrown into chaos by the muskets, and Wang De left the Xingnu Wall with the Yaksha camp and rushed up with more than a dozen short wooden ladders.

The gap is not flat, but a rugged obstacle created by the collapse of the wall.

Wang De still charged ahead, waiting for the warriors in the front row to set up a short ladder, he raised a shield in his left hand to resist the spear, and grabbed the short ladder with his right hand to climb quickly. In three or two steps, he rushed to a high ground, pulled out an iron shovel and slammed it out.

The golden soldiers were first shelled and then fired at by muskets, and were in a state of panic. Moreover, the high platform formed by the collapse of the city wall was too rugged and scattered to be neatly arranged.

Cao Wu and Xu Qing, two deputy generals, immediately rushed forward with their troops.

Three burly, tall brave and strong men, like three arrows, led their subordinates into the enemy formation.

In just a few minutes, the Jin soldiers who defended the gap began to break and flee.

Wanyan Zonghan shouted: "Hezha Meng'an, go up and fill the gap!" ”

More than 1,000 heavily armored iron cans, holding iron rods, hammers, and maces in their hands, slowly marched forward to the gap, and calmly took over the position against their own rout.

These are all Hezha Meng'an, who lost the main war horse last year, although the spare war horse can also be used, but after all, it is not as easy as before, and now it is just right to be used as a heavy infantry.

The two sides quickly collided with each other, and the slight difference in armor was negligible due to the blunt attacks.

Even in terms of equipment, the Yaksha battalions had an advantage, because they had shields in their hands.

Later pikemen on both sides also smeared their guns, fired their guns in the gap between the two sergeants, and repeatedly stabbed them at the local armor sergeants.

Where there is a gap, the battlefield is chaotic.

Many of the Yaksha warriors collided with Hezha Meng'an, and blunt objects smashed each other's bones apart, and then they fell to the ground and rolled and smashed together.

The five Lu buses successfully approached the city, and the musketeers on the top floor were slightly higher than the city walls, and fired cold guns at the city walls that had not yet collapsed, attacking the Jin soldiers who were shooting arrows at the Ming army in the back row. The musketeers on the penultimate layer have bullets across the gap and shoot at the reserves of the Golden Soldiers, who are not yet in battle.

The gap has completely turned into a meat grinder, and the most elite warriors of the Ming and Jin countries have become a mess without distinguishing each other.

This rugged and broken terrain, because it is impossible to effectively line up, relies on individual martial arts to fight, and hugs each other while fighting. even lost the weapon and rolled and fell, and then took off the opponent's helmet and smashed it with his fists, and opened his mouth to bite it when he was in a hurry.

(End of chapter)