When Wang Hao saw this scene on the mountain, he felt heartbroken and deeply regretted his mistake and carelessness. He then saw the remaining halberdiers carrying the door panels and launching another attack. After losing more than a dozen soldiers, he finally rescued the entire Qin army. Zhao Jun also focused on putting out the fire at the city gate and left Qin Jun's rescue operations unchecked.
This attack ended in complete failure. Wang Hao ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops, and all the wounded were sent to Jianzicheng, and then to Shangdang and Gaodu.
The two battalions preparing to attack vehicles and water were also in action. They requisitioned the people's stone axes to go up the mountain to cut wood, and they also requisitioned the people's large baskets to hold the stones. Since the water level is not high, you can wade on foot. Maybe you can block the river with a few baskets of stones and guide the water to the city.
The person responsible for guarding the pass was Li Mu, a young general of one hundred. The Li family is a large family of the Bai people, and the Bai people are the largest city in Zhao State after Handan. Together with Handan, they enjoy the privilege of minting coins. Great-grandfather Li Dui was once a powerful minister of the State of Zhao. King Wuling of Zhao was trapped and starved to death by him and was named Lord Fengyang. His grandfather Li Tan participated in the battle against Qi and made military exploits, and is now in charge of the Bai people. Li Mu had just become an official and was sent to garrison in Pi Lao. Although this place is remote, fortunately there are not many things going on. But things are unpredictable, and Pi Lao, who had always been fine, turned out to be an important front line because of the Battle of Changping! Li Mu, who was only a teenager, was caught in the war. What's more terrible is that he is still disabled: his right arm was born with contracture, and he could not draw the bow or hold the sword.
Therefore, when Lian Po personally led his army to Pilao to set up defenses, he wanted to remove Li Mu and replace him with someone else. But Li Mu introduced his tactical ideas to Lian Po: In this narrow space, large groups of troops could not play their role, and they could only rely on small groups to fight. And I have been at the pass for a long time, and I am very familiar with everything here. I have tactical scenarios in every direction to ensure that I can consume a large number of Qin troops in front of the pass.
Lian Po saw that the child was speaking eloquently, so he kept him, but he wanted to strengthen his troops and sent a man of 500 men to come. Li Mu said: "General, as long as you believe in Mu, you can entrust military affairs to Mu. If anything fails, Mu will be blamed. If you entrust it to others, Mu can go." Lian Po didn't want this child to be so stubborn, thinking that he was Li Tan's It is normal for a little grandson to be a little arrogant. At present, there are few who are confident in resisting the Qin army and many who are not. If Li Mu is confident, he might as well give him a try. Anyway, the leather prison is not too important. If it doesn't work, just throw it away. Just give it to the children to play with. So he replenished his troops and asked Li Mu to act as a general of 500 people.
When the Qin army arrived, Li Mu did not send all five hundred people to the city. This pass was not big to begin with, and there was no need to send troops to guard the northeast and southeast sides. He only had to defend the two walls. He only sent a hundred people to the city. The others waited in the camp and listened to his drums to go up to the city. support. The distance from the military camp to the city wall in all directions is no more than a hundred steps, and reinforcements can arrive in an instant.
When Wang Lun attacked the city on the first day, he ordered his soldiers to shoot and kill several Qin army's archers. When the Qin army's archers concentrated their fire, Li Mu ordered all the soldiers to stick to the wall to avoid, and there were very few casualties. However, the Qin army setting fire to the city gate was beyond Li Mu's expectation. He failed to prepare in advance. He could only wait for the fire to break out and mobilize a hundred soldiers to put out the fire with water on both sides of the city.
The next day, Li Mu learned his lesson. When he saw the Qin army crossing the river under the cover of the door panel, he simply withdrew the soldiers to the far side without any special obstruction. He waited until the Qin soldiers got close before firing fiercely, causing huge casualties to the Qin army. .
In the past two days, Lian Po was also watching the battle on the opposite mountain. Li Mu's successful defensive operations over the past two days were greatly appreciated by Lian Po. He sent troops every night to supplement the day's casualties and rescue the wounded; he replenished food and water, replenished arrows, and encouraged Li Mu to fight well! After repelling two attacks by the Qin army, the soldiers of the Zhao army had high morale and had great confidence in Li Mu.
On the third day, the Qin army attacked again, again charging under the cover of the gate panels, then throwing bundles of grass into the city gate and setting fire to the city. Li Mu followed suit, but this time, the halberdiers throwing straw bundles used door panels to cover them, effectively reducing the power of Li Mu's concentrated fire. Moreover, the Qin army was not in a hurry to retreat after lighting the fire, but concentrated its firepower on the lit city gate, causing heavy casualties to the Zhao army who went up to the city to put out the fire.
Li Mu ordered the archers on both sides to shoot arrows, and regardless of casualties, he ordered the soldiers to water the city and the ground. Because the Qin army's arrows were very dense, many soldiers were a little scared. Li Mu personally carried a water jar up to the city to water it, while encouraging everyone to bravely climb the city. After two trips to the city, the fire was finally put out.
But before Zhao Jun could take a breath, Qin Jun rushed up again, threw bundles of grass, and set the city gate on fire again. This time was different from the last time. There was dry grass outside and wet grass bundles inside. Not only was there a fire, but the wet grass was not fully burned and the smoke was billowing, making it impossible for Zhao Jun to get close.
Li Mu ordered the soldiers to water the city gates under the city to delay the attack as much as possible. The archers on the city retreated outside the thick smoke and fought back desperately. From time to time, some people fell down after being hit by arrows. Although the Qin army's archers suffered greater losses, they still shot arrows into the city tenaciously. The thick smoke continued for a while and then weakened. The Qin army rushed forward again, threw hay, and lit fires again.
The continuous efforts finally bore fruit. Around noon, the fire at the city gate changed from smoldering to an open flame. Suddenly a strong wind blew by, and the open flame suddenly turned into a deflagration, and the flames suddenly rose; the Qin army once again rushed into the fire. Throwing hay made the flames more intense, and finally the flames lit the gatehouse.
Seeing this scene, Lian Po reluctantly ordered the gold medal. Li Mu opened the south gate, and groups of soldiers left in an orderly manner and entered the narrow valley. All the wounded were taken away. Li Mu led the archers to evacuate in the end.
Wang Hao saw Li Mu withdrawing his troops defending the city on the mountain, but he did not instruct his troops to pursue him. Because the burning was so fierce now, the flames from the city gate began to spread to all combustible objects in the city: barracks, grain, straw, arrows, weapons, sundries... and even another city gate (the pass only has two gates, one facing south and one facing south). Toward the west), the whole city burst into flames.
Wang Lu didn't have enough troops to put out the fire, so he could only watch the city being completely burned down. He evacuated the wounded soldiers again and instructed the main force in Jianzicheng to advance along the road to Pi Lao tomorrow. He himself commanded the soldiers to occupy the mountains on both sides of the narrow valley.
Through the narrow valley at the foot of the mountain, Wang Hao could even vaguely see Zhao Jun on the other side of the valley. He sent out a sentry, but he met the opponent's sentinel in a narrow valley. After a brief confrontation, they retreated. Wang Hao extended his troops forward along the mountain ridge, and encountered the opponent's sentinels from time to time. Wang Hao did not know the true situation and did not dare to send his troops too far. He arranged the main force inside and outside the burned city, and placed two battalions on the mountain. When setting up camp three to five miles away, you must control the commanding heights on both sides.
After dawn, the morning fog dispersed, and Zhao Jun at the foot of the mountain could still be seen vividly. Mingshui walked in a zigzag shape after passing through the narrow valley. The turning point was naturally a mountain peak, which was Zhao Jun's observation post and command center. The Zhao army was divided into three parts, two on both sides of the Ming River, and the other was placed in an open land further north, apparently to prevent the Qin army from coming over the mountains without going through the valley. There should be a thousand people in each of the two camps. Wang Lu estimated that there should be supporting troops behind the mountain, and the total strength might be 5,000. Although there were many troops, the fortresses were not strong and no city was built. This made Wang Lu feel a little relieved.
Both sides made several tentative attacks, but all failed.
The valley is not wide to begin with, and it is divided into two parts by the Ming River, which makes the use of troops very difficult: there is not even enough width to form a horizontal line. If we advance in a horizontal line, we can put up to ten people in one line. It seems that we can only advance in a column. When fighting, we may need to use the width of the water surface.
The Qin army located in Jianzi City took two days to arrive. When all the troops arrived, it was already dark. It's the middle of winter, and the cold wind is howling. The wind blowing through the valley is particularly thrilling. According to convention, the Qin army should have arrived at the battle site by this time, settled in the enemy's town, and ate the enemy's food. But this expedition is a long way, and there are few people along the way. So on the way, we also bought ten kilograms of fried millet from Duanshi and Gaodu.
It has been seven or eight days since Shangdang set off, but even if we rush through the narrow valley in front of us, we will still not be able to reach a densely populated area. We still cannot find food and shelter, so we must continue to move forward.
The valley is very narrow, and 20,000 people cannot even spread out. The so-called rule of one camp and one mile of ground can only be ignored. The soldiers each found a sheltered place to camp and lit a bonfire to keep warm. The fire lit half of the sky red.
The next day, two regular battalions crossed the valley from both sides of the Ming River. Five thousand light soldiers followed the ridge or hillside on the south bank of Ming River to reach the other side of the mountain.
The Ming River turns in a zigzag shape to the south and then to the east. The only open space on the south bank is occupied by the two battalions of the Zhao Army. Behind them is the Ming River, and behind them is the Zhao Army's lookout and command post. This semi-surrounded Ming River not only protected Zhao Jun's flanks and rear, but also isolated him. Wang Lu's intention was to use a battalion to contain the Zhao army on the north bank of the Ming River, and use all his strength to capture the south bank of the Ming River.
Two regular battalions advancing along the valley came into contact with Zhao Jun: Zhao Jun on both sides sent a team of 100 men each to meet them in the narrow valley. Separated only by a small river no less than a hundred paces wide, the two teams kept pace with each other so that they could look after each other. Due to the narrow road, it stands to reason that there is not much difference in combat effectiveness between one hundred people and five hundred people. But as soon as there was a fight, the Qin army in front formed a standard hedgehog formation to stop Zhao Jun's advance; the Qin army behind jumped into the river and rushed towards Zhao Jun along the river bed. For a moment, arrows were like locusts, attacking from the side. Zhao Jun instantly disrupted Zhao Jun's position. The team that went forward to engage in the battle had to drag the wounded and look back in panic. They were still shot by Qin Jun in the water from time to time. The Qin army pursued all the way to the mouth of the valley and stopped when they encountered the Zhao army's camp.
