In early August, the Song army was overwhelmed, and it took only a few days to set up artillery positions outside Lang Son Pass, and the Vietnamese army was completely defeated.

After that, the Song army occupied the city of Langzhou, gathered the main force of about 40,000 people, mighty, and went south again, directly taking Zhiling Pass.

At this time, Li Foma gathered Guo Shengyi's rout, and stationed about 80,000 troops to guard the pass.

Zhileng Pass can not be said to be towering into the clouds, but it is extremely dangerous, it is between the two mountains, if you look at the terrain, it is quite similar to the famous pass Loushan Pass in our country.

At a glance, the mountains are stacked on top of each other, and the mountains are originally verdant and almost black and green, but now they are becoming more and more yellow-brown and foliage, paving the road that is not very spacious.

The scouts of the Great Song Dynasty walked among the fallen leaves, and from time to time there were all kinds of bird calls and whistles from the deep mountains and old forests on both sides, reminding them that there was no enemy nearby.

These scouts are the most elite minority troops selected by Di Qing to be responsible for reconnaissance and early warning work at the front.

In fact, in ancient times, the ethnic composition of northern Vietnam, that is, the Red River Delta region, was not complicated, and it was mainly composed of Zhuangyao, Miao, Han and other ethnic groups in the southwest.

They are good at fighting in the mountains and forests, but the ethnic minority troops in Guangxi recruited by Di Qing are from the same source as them, and they are just as good at fighting in the mountains and forests. The two sides can be described as needle-to-needle, and they are both fighting in their own areas of expertise.

With their help, the traps dug by the Vietnamese army on the roads, the ambushes arranged in the mountains and forests, and the reconnaissance posts hidden nearby were almost all easily swept away.

At this moment, Di Qing was in charge of the Chinese army, and the ranks of the Chinese army consisted of 7,000 musketeers, and the cannons were still in the rear, escorted by Nong Zhigao.

No way.

Compared with muskets, artillery with hundreds or even thousands of kilograms is still too mobile, especially in such jungle and mountainous areas, where it can only be moved step by step.

Di Qing sat on his horse and staggered forward, today is the twenty-first day of the march, and he is only more than ten miles away from Zhiling Pass.

He looked around at the mountain, looking for a suitable place to install the cannon, and prepared to bombard the Vietnamese army Xiongguan again.

After more than ten minutes, the Malay newspaper reported that the vanguard army had arrived outside the pass.

Di Qing immediately ordered to start camping outside the pass.

It didn't take long for the firearms army to also arrive outside the pass and join the vanguard army in front.

Since the civilian and artillery units are in the rear, the current army is composed of ethnic minority units and firearms troops, so the firearms corps is lined up outside the camp to be vigilant, and the minority troops begin to cut down trees and build barracks.

Di Qing looked around the terrain, and their position was in the col between the two mountains. Although the ancient road of Zhilingguan is narrow, it is not the kind of mountain road that is only a few meters away.

Between the east and west mountains, there are many slopes, meadows, and woods, and there are still many places where you can set up camp, and you only need to remove the wild grass basil.

But it's autumn, and the leaves are flying, so it's not easy to clear a large open space.

"Clear a clearing of land immediately."

"First arrange for the soldiers of each department to take turns to go to the mountain spring found by the scouts to replenish the water bottles consumed."

"You don't need to dig trenches, you need to put up fences and tents."

"Be careful when making a fire, although it is almost impossible to make a fire here, but also be careful that the gunpowder is ignited."

"Tonight, we will enter the camp normally, and all departments will arrange sentry posts, so as not to let the enemy take advantage of it."

One after another, Di Qing prepared to go into the mountains to observe the terrain.

He was not worried that the Vietnamese army would set fires.

Because before he came, the prefect told him that Annan is in a tropical monsoon and tropical rainforest climate, and unless napalm is used, it is almost impossible for a large-scale fire to occur.

However, the gunpowder resources are very important, and once there is a little spark, it will also cause extremely serious consequences, so that the Song army will suffer huge losses.

Therefore, in every place, gunpowder and other materials are the top priority.

As for the relatively small amount of water, he didn't worry about it, he didn't plan to fight a protracted war, basically every place he went, find a water source to fill the kettle, and then ordered the soldiers of the whole army to boil water to drink.

The firearms army is still relatively advanced in equipment, and in addition to muskets, there are gunpowder backpacks, steel kettles, and steel knives on their waists.

The kettle was made in a steel mill, so that soldiers could take water and boil it on the spot and carry it for drinking.

The only problem is that Nong Zhigao's ethnic minority coalition army does not have the standard equipment of the Great Song Firearms Army, and many people have already been out of the battle sequence because of stomach problems caused by drinking raw water.

However, they are not the main force in the war, and there is no need to worry, as long as the firearms army is not infected with a large area of epidemics, it will not pose much threat to military operations.

Di Qing was led by the scout and several lieutenants to climb a nearby hill with a low slope and a decent view.

Zhang Yu commanded the soldiers to set up camp at the foot of the mountain.

This mountain is about thirty or forty zhang high, that is, a hundred meters away, and the surrounding mountains and forests are forested, and the big trees cover the sky and the sun, this mountain has almost no trees, only countless wild grass basil.

Standing on the slope, Di Qing looked into the distance, there was almost no movement around, the autumn wind gently blew over the hills, and the leaves and autumn grass swayed.

The soldiers of the Li Dynasty were all cowering in the Zhiling Pass, and there was no movement of any intention to come out.

Li Yi, the commander of the firearms army, vaguely saw the pass in the distance, and said curiously: "General, are the Jiaozhi people stupid?" I already suffered a big loss last time, why do you dare to defend the pass this time? ”

"If you want me to say, they are not stupid, they are helpless. In the face of my Great Song Heavenly Army, how can they resist stubbornly? It's just a dead end. ”

Another commander, Liu Qing, said with a smile.

"Don't underestimate them."

Di Qing put his hands behind his back, his white cloak swaying in the wind, shook his head and said, "Fighting is not child's play, and you can't fool any enemy like a fool." ”

"Then why haven't they moved yet?"

Li Yi was puzzled: "If it were me, I'm afraid I would have been out of the customs a long time ago, and no matter what, I should have made a tentative attack." ”

"That says only two things."

"Two things?"

"One, the enemy has just experienced a great defeat, his morale is low, and he does not dare to immediately send troops. Two, they are brewing a bigger conspiracy. ”

Di Qing said calmly.

Zhang Mao, the ruler of Guangxi South Road, scratched his head and said, "General, what conspiracy will they hatch?" ”

"Learn to think on the side of the enemy."

Di Qing lowered his head and pondered.

If he was on the side of the enemy generals, facing the firearms of the Song army, I am afraid that he would indeed be a little helpless.

However, it is not completely impossible, and it may be possible to attack the enemy's shortcomings with the length of the enemy.

So what are the strengths of the Vietnamese army?

Naturally, it lives in the mountains for a long time, and climbs over the mountains and mountains as if walking on flat ground.

In contrast, the Song army was only able to do it by ethnic minority troops, and the firearms army was very reluctant.

Therefore, if he was a Vietnamese army, it was very likely that he would take advantage of this and send a large number of soldiers to attack the Song army from the mountains and forests while they were assembling artillery.

After all, it is better for the Song army's artillery to be placed on the mountain, so that the range is longer and the power is greater.

But..

They apparently did not yet know how powerful the muskets were.

Thinking of this, Di Qing almost had a countermeasure, and he only needed to watch out for what the Vietnamese army was best at.

It's getting late.

The Song army outside the pass had already built several improvised camps, fenced off on the outside and tents on the inside.

There were no fortifications, and there were no horsebacks, thistles or anything like that.

In the mountains and forests on both sides, I don't know how many pairs of eyes appeared, staring at the camp where the Song army lit torches from a long distance.

The wind was blowing, and the soldiers on night duty in the Firearms Corps looked up, and occasionally heard all kinds of screams echoing in the depths of the mountains a few miles away.

The scouts of both sides fought to the death in the mountains and forests, and it was a war without gunpowder. If the two sides meet in the mountains, they will find each other, and if they can't match the code, they will be bows and crossbows, blow arrows, and even swords, guns and clubs in an instant.

Such a tragic battle is like the law of the dark jungle.

Especially sometimes the opponent is accidentally detected by the enemy, so whether they are their own people or not, they will often be the first to hack, and it is not uncommon for teammates to be injured accidentally.

But there's no way around it.

Relying on the fighting of the ethnic minority soldiers, the Song army slowly gained a foothold outside the pass, and the camp was repaired to a place about four miles away from the Zhiling Pass.

The large and small mountains on both sides were also basically occupied by the Song army, and the price paid was hundreds of casualties.

However, the Vietnamese army could not talk about victory, and they also died a lot.

After five or six days, Nong Zhigao led the people and the artillery team to finally arrive at the front line of Zhilengguan.

Since Zhileng Pass is an uphill slope, if you shoot directly outside the pass, most of the shells are estimated to only hit the city wall of Zhileng Pass, so you still have to go up the mountain.

After Nong Zhigao arrived, Di Qing immediately ordered the people to cut down trees and open a way into the mountain on the right side of the mountain they had already chosen.

This information was quickly discovered by the Vietnamese scouts hidden in the nearby mountains, and returned to Guanzhong to report to Li Foma.

At this time, Li Foma was inspecting the enemy situation at the gate, and the mountains on their right side were not high, about thirty-four zhang high, and there were also some flat plains.

Later, Chi Ling County in Vietnam was near here, and there was a small river flowing slowly from the mountains, and the vegetation was vigorous, like a grassland in the wilderness.

On the left side is the Lang Son branch, so the mountain is much higher, and the Baizhang Mountains abound, and the road is extremely rugged and difficult to navigate.

Di Qing: The mountain road they opened up was on the left side of Li Foma.

"Report!"

When the scout returned, he hurriedly ran to the gate, knelt down on one knee to Li Foma, and said, "Your Majesty, the enemy is already beginning to open up the mountain road. ”

"Yes, I see."

Li Foma nodded, and looked deeply to the northwest, where the mountains were steep and there were cliffs, and he seemed to be able to perceive that perhaps the enemy could really shoot the black ball into the pass from miles away.

After the scouts left, Li Foma turned to look at the generals around him and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the enemy wants to repeat his old tricks and throw black balls to defeat us, and we must not let them succeed." ”

"Your Majesty, give the order, the ministers will fight to the death."

"At this time, our army immediately went deep into the forest, suddenly killed, and killed all the people who opened their way, and they had nothing to do."

"When it comes to fighting in this mountain forest, my Dayue soldiers are a hundred times stronger than their Song army!"

Li Fengxiao, Du Qing, Ban Shi Yonghe, Ban Du Xingru and other generals said one after another.

"Okay."

Li Foma no longer hesitated when he arrived at this pass, and immediately shouted: "Coming, the cardinal prime minister, you will lead 20,000 people, immediately enter the mountain from the left side of the pass, and attack by detour." ”

"Yes!"

Li Fengxiao should go down.

Li Foma said again: "General Du, you lead 10,000 people to make a detour from Guanyou and harass their camp. ”

"Yes."

Du Qingying went down.

"The rest of the people, once the fight begins, will fight with me and the enemy!"

"Yes!"

The crowd drank violently.

At this time, it was a life-and-death juncture for Da Yue, and he could only fight to the death.

Soon, at noon, the Song army's minfu opened a road from the slope into the mountain, and trees were constantly cut down and weeds were cleared.

Nature is majestic, but manpower is not useless, at least the power gathered by tens of thousands of people is not insignificant.

Some men cut down trees, knocked down the timber, and rolled them down the mountain.

Some people spread the weeds they had cut down on the ground and paved a road up the mountain.

There are also people who dig rammed earth and fill in a slope in the steep and almost almost roadless mountains.

Under the command of the generals, everyone performed their own duties, and the efficiency was amazingly fast.

But it's normal.

After all, it is only to open a road that can accommodate artillery to go up, and it is not to open a highway, and the difficulty is not at all a level.

In just half a day's effort, they made a dirt road about seventy or eighty zhang long and about one zhang wide, and the cart may not be able to go up, but the people can carry the cannon barrel up.

In the afternoon, this steep slope road, which is expected to be 200 zhang long, that is, more than 600 meters, can be repaired to meet the needs of the artillery to go up the mountain to install artillery.

Soon when it came to Shen, the road gradually cleared, Di Qing gave an order, and the members of the artillery crew began to go up the mountain with small steel cannons.

But it was also at this time that a mutation suddenly occurred.

In the mountains and forests in the distance, a flock of birds flew in fright, and the leaves of the forest swayed.

Then a shrill whistle sounded through the heavens and the earth.

"General, enemy attack!"

A minority leader shouted to Di Qing in panic.

"It doesn't matter."

Di Qing looked over there silently.

As he had expected, the enemy chose to attack from the wooded hills.

But what the other party obviously didn't know was that in fact, if it was just to build an ordinary road up the mountain, it wouldn't take tens of thousands of people at all.

So why did he send so many people?

Because their role is to clear all the vegetation within 100 meters on the west side of the road up the mountain.

Chop with an axe, cut with a knife, and be sure to leave a relatively open view area for the 100 meters on the west side of this slope, which is only five or six hundred meters long.

At this moment, about thousands of firearms troops escorted the artillery wagons on the mountain and began to move towards the mountain, and various voices continued in the nearby forest.

There were screams, whistles, and trumpets.

In a few moments, many scouts of the Song army who had been sent out to lurk in the mountains and forests ran out, shouting as they ran: "Hurry up, the enemy is coming." ”

However, the firearms army turned a deaf ear, Zhang Yu looked at them indifferently, and just shouted: "Order, let them run down the mountain." ”

"Yes."

Immediately, dozens of soldiers ran out to meet the scouts who had escaped, and ordered them to flee down the mountain.

Behind them, the sound of rustling in the forest was endless.

Countless Vietnamese soldiers dressed in various costumes faintly emerged from inside, and when they saw the Song army raising the cannon barrel in the distance outside the forest, they shouted in their language: "It's the Song army, kill!" ”

"Kill!"

A terrifying roar erupted in the forest.

Zhang Yu just said: "Ready!" ”

"Whoosh!"

Thousands of muskets lined up in a long line on a slope, guarding the artillery behind them, and the muzzles of their guns were pointed at the Vietnamese troops in the distance.

An artillery squad leader and his artillery crew members carried a small steel cannon barrel of more than 100 kilograms and moved step by step up the hill exhaustively, and happened to meet an acquaintance.

He couldn't help but greet the musketeer enviously: "Old Wang, it's still easy for you, the musket is so heavy." ”

"What about the war, be serious, don't bother me."

That Lao Wang was a gunner in the third row, although he didn't shoot in front, he had to prepare for the third stage of shooting, and he didn't dare to turn back and talk to his acquaintances, staring at the front.

"Okay."

The artillery squad leader vaguely saw that there seemed to be a war supervisor looking at him, so he had to shut his mouth, change his shoulders again, and continue to climb up the hill with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"Fire!"

Zhang Yu roared loudly.

"Bang bang!"

The sound of a huge musket resounded in the sky, followed by white smoke and countless lead bullets shot out of the barrel.

In an instant, two or three hundred Vietnamese soldiers who ran out of the forest were shot and fell violently as if they had been hit hard.

The people around didn't know what was going on, and many people didn't even know that there was such a situation, they only knew that they were buried in the charge, and they heard a loud bang in front of them, and then the smoke was clear.

I can only continue to run forward.

But in the next second, the firearms in the second row came one after another and continued to fire.

Then the first row goes back to reload, and the third row fires.

Then the first platoon comes out to shoot, the second platoon prepares, the third platoon reloads, and so on.

Di Qing placed 5,000 musketeers on the mountain road, and the fire was so dense that it completely covered the long slope, and there was hardly any room for leakage.

Countless Vietnamese soldiers fell inexplicably like this, until a few breaths passed, and before they rushed in front of the Song army, the thousands of Vietnamese soldiers who ran the fastest in front were shot and fell to the ground, and the people behind realized that something was wrong.

At this time, the forest was already full of wailing, and many people did not die immediately after being shot, but screamed in pain, and blood suddenly flowed all over the ground, irrigating the surrounding weeds that had not been cleared.

"What's the situation, Song Jun has witchcraft, this is Song Jun's witchcraft."

"God, they will kill people in the air."

"Run!"

A large number of Vietnamese soldiers finally broke down and fled.

Song Jun didn't pursue either, just watched.

At the same time, the camp at the foot of the mountain was also raided by the Vietnamese army, and Di Qing left more than 2,000 firearms troops behind to easily repel them.

However, due to the distance of the camp from the pass and the fact that the battle was on the mountain, the gate did not see the situation clearly.

Li Foma was still anxiously watching outside at this time, and he only saw that there was chaos outside, especially on the side of the Song army camp, where there were dense Song army soldiers running back and forth.

"They're going to get it."

Liang Maocai shouted.

It was too far away and was sheltered by high mountains, so it was true that they didn't know exactly what was going on, but it seemed that they had at least succeeded in keeping the Song army in chaos.

"Okay, get out of the customs and kill the enemy with me!"

Li Foma knew that the fighter plane could not be delayed, although he didn't know whether he was losing or winning outside, but if he was on the verge of losing, he was close to the door?

So sometimes the decision is still decided, compared to Zhao Zhen, Li Foma is actually a more decisive person.

At that moment, he immediately ordered to open the pass, and the whole army attacked and killed the Song army camp.

A quarter of an hour later, the gate of Zhilengguan opened, and countless Vietnamese troops swarmed out.

"Bang bang!"

But at this moment, everyone heard a terrifying loud noise.

The musket was in the mountains, four or five miles away, and they couldn't hear it, but the sound of the cannon was like thunder in their ears.

In an instant, many people raised their heads, and they saw countless black balls in the sky attacking them.

Among them, Li Foma was riding on horseback and was driving his own expedition, but he looked up and saw that a black ball, as if it had eyes, was aimed in his direction!

"Bang!"

Without waiting for Li Foma to react, he and his horse disappeared into the roar in an instant.

(End of chapter)