Chapter 229: Ax Cutting the Gorge
She Chongming did not consider the risks of this trip. But on the one hand, he was able to recover thanks to An Bangyan's great assistance. Let's not talk about anything else, just food. Elder An gave himself 40% of the food and grass he defrauded from Zhang Fang. Even if the Yongning Department will not get even a cent in the next two years. There is no need to worry about starvation even if the land is not planted. She Chongming cannot be too grateful for this huge and selfless help - after losing their old nest, if most of the people are assigned to grow food, the Yongning Army will not have a few Miao soldiers left who can fight with knives. No need to wait for Sun Jie to fight, as long as Luo Rebel Dog comes to harass him a few times from time to time, his rule will fall apart! On the other hand, in the next battle in Yongning City, although I can't touch the wall, even if the traitor Luo wants to make a sneak attack, won't he still be unable to get through? Even if he organizes the people to clear obstacles, such a large area, once he clears it, is enough for him to fight back from Usa twice!
The real enemy is in Guizhou to the east. Only by completely eliminating the threats from the west and south, and then uniting various chieftains and An Bangyan to deal with Sun Jie with all their strength can there be a slight chance of victory. This is obvious. Yunnan's government troops had nothing to fear, and Shibai's group of Wumeng clansmen could only take advantage of the situation to rob them. The only real threat was the Zhanyi Long clan's seven or eight thousand native soldiers. By completely annihilating them, Zhanyi, Wusha, Bijie, and Chishuiwei can be connected together. Not only can we gain a huge strategic depth of thousands of miles out of thin air, but we can also form a stable and solid rear area. Sun Jie's army will definitely penetrate into the hinterland of Guizhou along the Luguang River. At that time, it will be able to attack An Bangyan from both sides. Even if it is defeated, it can still resist step by step and lead the army into the mountains in western Guizhou and southern Sichuan. Therefore, helping An Xiaoliang defend Wusa Mansion is of great significance to the success or failure of this uprising. In terms of fighting, it is impossible to completely defeat the Ming Dynasty. Only by making the court feel extremely troublesome and costly can we negotiate a solution. The ideal result is to have peace of mind in one corner without disturbing each other.
So She Chongming left only some old, weak and wounded soldiers from the Yongning battle in Chishui Guards to defend the city. He and She Yin led more than 30,000 elite troops via Bijie and attacked Wusa Mansion from Qixing Pass. According to King She's plan, after defeating the Zhanyi and Wumeng coalition forces at the foot of Wusha City, he asked She Yin to lead five or six thousand people to pursue the Wumeng tribe to the west, and forced them to form an alliance. He led the main force to bite the Long clan. , completely annihilate this force, and completely take Zhanyi into their pockets - the Yunnan officials and soldiers will definitely ask the local soldiers from the two places to take the lead and hide behind them. If they win, they will take advantage, and if they lose, they will be the first to run away. Therefore, it is completely Not in She Chongming's consideration. Moreover, despite Cheng Tian's impassioned talk of righteousness, the local officials of the Ming Dynasty were all playing the trick of beggaring their neighbors to death, but not the poor Taoist. As long as they don't take it seriously, they don't have to worry about Yunnan Province sending troops to Sichuan and Guizhou in the future. He and Brother An Just focus on resisting Sun Jie and there is no need to worry about the threat from Yunnan.
She Chongming's judgment was very accurate: when attacking Wusha, the Yunnan officers and soldiers did not work hard and hid far behind Zhanyi and Wumeng. They called it "guarding each other's back roads and strengthening each other's prestige", but it was just that The so-called "back" is the Ming Dynasty's own territory. I don't know which one they are trying to guard against. Although Xie Cunren, the governor of Yunnan, sent two thousand officers and soldiers to "conquer" under Zhu Xieyuan's pressure, he was absolutely unwilling to make wedding clothes for others - Dian Province itself is full of various tribes, large and small. After the She'an uprising, the chieftains in each village changed their minds. It was only the officers and soldiers from the surrounding guard posts who kept them in check that prevented big trouble from happening. Did they send troops out of the province to help suppress it? Haha, if we win, it’s you, Mr. Zhu, who will be the one planning the strategy, but if we lose, what will happen? When the main force is deployed, when various ministries in Yunnan Province rebel, it will be my lord's hair and even his head that will be lost, right? How can there be such truth in the world! Therefore, Governor Xie gave a private order to General Geng Hu, who was leading the team. The officers and soldiers were not allowed to cross the Sichuan-Yunnan boundary but could cross the Yangliu River (also known as the Yangliu River, which was the provincial boundary of Sichuan and Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty, in the territory of Xuanwei, Yunnan today). , it’s far away from Usa Mansion!
It's a pity that King She, who was well aware of the war situation and even the style of Ming Dynasty officialdom, missed a step after all the calculations. It was this missed step that would bring himself and An Bangyan into a situation of no return.
Soldiers are valuable and quick. After crossing the Qixing River from Qixing Pass, She Chongming did not send any scouts because he was marching in a friendly territory and was familiar with the roads. The whole army approached Wusa Mansion at full speed. Hezhang* is the only road from Bijie to Ussa. Because it is located in the sloping area of the Wumeng Mountains where the eastern Yunnan Plateau transitions to the mountains and hills of central Guizhou, the terrain is dangerous. Especially the Axe Gorge, with mountains of different heights on both sides. A path winds for seven or eight miles in the canyon. This is the only so-called official road. However, She Chongming is not worried about being ambushed here: both sides of the official road are almost vertical cliffs. Unless they can grow wings, no one will be stupid enough to set up an ambush on the top of the mountain: the lowest mountain is seven or eight feet high, so he is not afraid If you fall to death, just jump down! With the small strength of the Zhanyi and Wumeng coalition forces, it would be difficult to defeat Wusad, and it was impossible to divide the troops and block them at the end of the canyon - so what if there was an ambush? Facing the 30,000 tigers and wolves of the Yongning Army, it is not like a mantis acting as a chariot. It only takes half an hour to break through the front line of only two or three thousand people at best. It is just a matter of taking advantage of the momentum to chase the defeated troops and cut them through!
To King She's surprise, as soon as the whole army entered the canyon, Zu Bao, the leader of Weixin Village, who was acting as the vanguard, ran back to the Chinese army in person to report: A large number of Minggu ambushes were encountered near the exit of the canyon, and a lot of defensive horses were built. Many deep ditches were dug, and one could tell at a glance that these must have been done by the regular army of the Ming Dynasty. All the fortifications were built in an orderly and solid manner. A strong attack would definitely cause heavy casualties... Before Zu Bao could finish his words, ghosts appeared on the hills on both sides. Although there were only a few people everywhere, there were only thirty or forty people at most, but panic still broke out among the Yongning army, which was surrounded by powerful enemies.
"Why are you panicking! These are all suspicious soldiers. How can the Han dogs fly down!" Before She Yin finished speaking, a deafening roar came from the valley at the front! The roar sounded continuously, getting closer and closer. In just a few breaths, it exploded above the head and then gradually moved away. The Yongning army, which was densely packed on the path, immediately erupted in a miserable howl!
The Ming army squads on each hilltop were artillery groups, and the sound of artillery fire from Liu Tieniu's artillery group guarding the exit of the canyon was the signal. They had no intention of attacking downwards, they just set up their artillery and bombarded the crowd below! What's even more deadly is that most of the artillery is not even aimed at the crowd, but at the opposite mountain wall!
The Usa area is a typical karst landform with jagged rocks. Hundreds of thousands of iron pellets hit the stone wall and then bounced into the crowd. Not only did their destructive power not decrease at all, but the large and small gravels flew away in the blasted area, which was several times more than the number of cannonballs. , in the blink of an eye, more than a thousand people fell in the ranks of the Yongning Army. The rest of the people looked up in fear, and the Ming Army's artillery crew was slowly reloading above their heads, just out of reach, and then carelessly Pushing the artillery cart, lowering the black muzzle and pointing it at himself... Sun Jie's newly forged artillery and the dozen or so temporary artillery crews were okay, but the most disgusting thing was the old artillery crews with rich experience in facing the enemy. The gunners even followed closely The Miao soldiers nearby played psychological warfare: first they pointed the muzzle somewhere, and the Miao soldiers there hugged their heads and scattered. Then the gunners commanded the artillery crew to point the muzzle to another place, but they refused. Lighting the fire, the Miao soldiers followed the gunner's fingers and ran around like mice. Suddenly, the torch was pressed on the fire door, and there was a roar. Everyone in the artillery crew was loading while looking at the mess below and laughing... …
Heartbroken.
The morale of the Yongning army was in great confusion. Even in the most dangerous nightmares, the scene of being shot in the head with a cannon has never appeared in Rao Shi's most dangerous nightmares. Who could have imagined that today he would be thrown into such a hellish situation? Shura killing field! Fortunately, there was a huge boulder protruding from the side of the road. A large piece of it could cover several people. She Chongming and his son were dragged over by the guards and found a temporary hiding place. In King She's sight, Miao soldiers had organized themselves and climbed up the stone wall regardless of the artillery fire above their heads. These warriors were risking their lives to attack the artillery crew and sacrifice themselves to gain a glimmer of life for their tribe. From time to time, someone missed and fell screaming, and the artillery crew on the opposite hill also aimed fire at them. Countless people were hit by iron pellets and gravel. However, amid the roar of the artillery and the screams of the injured, There was singing!
I don’t know who started it, but more and more people began to sing along with the beat. Soon, the harmony of tens of thousands of people actually overwhelmed the roar of the artillery! This is a Miao family hymn about heroes, ancestors and gods. Although they have no written words of their own, their heroes, their ancestors, their gods, and the Miao family's thousands of years of history are passed down from generation to generation through this long song! The songs are sometimes sad and poignant, sometimes high-spirited and unrestrained. The artistic appeal is unparalleled. Every survivor joins in the chorus. More and more people struggle to get up from the ground and start to climb up in time with the singing, completely ignoring their companions. , even when he was hit, and even when he fell, he still tenaciously gave out the last note of his life!
She Chongming and his son were already in tears.
The nearly vertical cliff blocks most of the climbers halfway. Occasionally, there are a few lucky ones who have just popped up on the cliff, but without exception they fall after the cold light flashes: the position of each gun group is not only selected. In a location with almost no roads, there are two spearmen providing close protection!
She Chongming kept wondering, didn't Sun Jie go to Guizhou? Where did these Han dogs come from to become such a powerful army?
"Your Majesty, please order the troops to be withdrawn. If this doesn't work, all the warriors will die here! Zu Bao has risked his life. Weixin Village will fight to the death to open the way for the army, and the young and old in the village will be entrusted to your Majesty!" Before he could finish his words, Zu Bao Bao wiped the tears from his face, rushed out of the cover of the boulder with red eyes, and rushed forward.
"Send the order, the entire army must assemble, and build a barrier with dead bodies to cover it! Wait until the Weixin Stronghold clears the way for bloodshed, and then the entire army will attack!"
The order spread all the way. The Miao soldiers obeyed the order and gave up their futile climb. They dragged the corpses of their companions through the gaps between the artillery fire, huddled behind the pile of corpses, holding the Miao knives tightly in their hands, crying, praying silently, and enduring repeated rounds of artillery fire. A round of bombardment. More than twenty artillery pieces on the hills on both sides were roaring continuously and unhurriedly, and clouds of blood were shooting everywhere. Everyone was patiently waiting for the warriors of Weixin Village to use their lives to open the passage. At that time, he vowed to slaughter all these Han dogs, and the blood debt of the tribe must be repaid with blood!
"More than half of the casualties in Weixin Village have been crossed over the ditch."
"The Zu Baotou people died in front of the first line of resistance. The entire army in Weixin Village was wiped out. Now the Bai Shoutou people in Wuxiang Village are leading the assault."
"The Baishoutou people are dead, leaving only the last line of resistance. Adege led the people from Luojiao Village and rushed forward."
Listening to the military information coming back from the front one after another, She Chongming's eyes had dried up with tears, but his heart was bleeding. Now we are no longer fighting for Uzzah, but to avenge these warriors who have gone on to fight for death! He was waiting, waiting for Adge to completely clear the obstacles, and then the whole army would attack and kill all the Han dogs! She Chongming waited gnashing his teeth until he saw the continuous red light emerging from the end of the valley far ahead...
"The Han dogs piled up a mountain of dry firewood behind Juma. The fire was raging and would burn until at least midnight. The Han dogs lit the fire and retreated. Adege was burned to death! Also, the Han general who led the army It’s that Sun Jie, everyone has seen him, they can see him clearly!”
Hearing the name Sun Jie, a huge feeling of frustration came down from the top of his head. She Chongming's legs went weak and he sat down: How could it be him? ! She Chongming looked up in a daze at the sun hanging in the sky. The unhurried roar of artillery was still ringing in his ears. The blazing flames completely eliminated any chance of breaking through. How could he be bombarded for another three or four hours? In a short time, at most two hours, these 30,000 elites will turn into 30,000 piles of dregs!
She Chongming said dejectedly: "The whole army retreats! Go back to Chishui."
When Yongning's entire army ran out of the Axe Gorge regardless of the continuous bombardment of artillery along the way, She Chongming, who was heartbroken with pain, discovered that half of his men were buried in this short canyon. There were less than 20,000 people around him, including the lightly wounded.
Why does Sun Jie appear here?
*Hezhang belongs to Guizhou today. The Ming Dynasty was sometimes assigned to Guizhou and sometimes Yunnan. At this time, it belonged to Sichuan. The Yelang Kingdom in the idiom "Yelang is arrogant" is here.
