Sure enough, shortly after dawn on the second day, a large group of Mongolian cavalry appeared at the mountain pass. They pounced on Hengyuan Village and went directly to the mountains. It's just that the Perak Army brigade, led by Cao Ergou, had already set off with the loot for a long time. Even the third company that had been left behind also left the mountain pass and walked towards Wanjiabao. It is really difficult for the Mongolian army to make a decision to pursue along this rugged mountain road. In fact, this mountain road is not completely unrideable, but it is very easy to fall into the Wenjing River below the road, and the uneven road surface will cause serious damage to the horses' hooves. This is something the Mongolian cavalry who regard horses as brothers are not willing to risk. risk. After hesitating for a long time, seeing that there was no trace of the Pili army behind them, the Mongolian army went back angrily.
After the trophies were transported to Wanjiabao, Ouyang Xuan asked Cao Ergou to take the four already exhausted soldiers to a nearby stockade to rest. Now, in addition to Shi Zhongshu's second company and the two companies of the garrison battalion brought by Yu Zhu, Wanjiabao now has four more companies back, and it is really overcrowded.
The explosions of artillery and grenades were faintly heard from the mountains above Wanjiabao. Ouyang Xuan knew that Zhao Shicai was attacking Wanjiazhai again. Now the 500 new auxiliary troops led by Zhao Shicai are stuck in a dilemma on the mountain road between Wanjiazhai and Wanjiabao. The climate in the mountains is cold, and there is frost at night in early winter, which makes the situation of the newly attached soldiers sleeping in the open on the mountain road even more difficult. They had neither food nor fuel for a fire, so they huddled together to keep warm. While they were suffering from hunger and cold, they secretly cursed Zhao Shicai for his incompetence, scolded him for underestimating the enemy and rushing in, and scolded him for leaving all the baggage at Wanjiapu at the foot of the mountain to grab credit. At this moment, Zhao Shicai was also cursing. He scolded the Pili Army and Ouyang Xuan for their cunning, scolded the Mongols for their ruthlessness, scolded the new annexed troops in Qingcheng County for being cowardly, and scolded Xiong Ben for his treachery...
In fact, Zhao Shicai mistakenly blamed Xiong Ben this time. As a bandit leader, it is not wrong to use the words cunning, cruel, and cold to describe Xiong Ben, and betrayal is also commonplace for him. However, out of hatred for the Perak Army and Ouyang Xuan, Xiong Ben's attack on the Perak Army was not without his efforts. In addition to offering a plan to win the gate of Wanjiabao City, he also personally led 200 elite people from Yongkang City as promised, along the Use the secret path to escape and attack Wanjiazhai. It's just that this secret path is really difficult and difficult. From time to time, some people fall behind, and some even fall off the cliff. When they gathered one mile away from the back gate of Wanjiazhai to count the number of people, only 180 of the two hundred people remained.
After the Perak Army occupied Wanjiazhai, in order to prevent Xiong Ben from coming back, they built a sentry on the mountainside one mile from the back gate of the village, completely blocking the hidden trail. Although this sentry post is small, it stands high and guards the secret trail. It is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. It's just that the watchtower cannot be built with stone due to the terrain, but can only be built with wood. This also gives Xiong Ben the confidence to succeed in the sneak attack. After seeing the tremendous power of Pili weapons, he also coerced Taoist priests from nearby Taoist temples to make black gunpowder. Although the power was far inferior to the Pili army's refined granular gunpowder, as long as the quantity was sufficient, it was more than enough to deal with wooden fortifications.
Just when Zhao Shicai's troops and the new attached army of Qingcheng County were attacking Wanjiabao from both sides, Xiong Ben also took action. The scouts who went to conduct reconnaissance reported that there were only two defenders at the guard post. It seemed that all the people in the village were restrained by the people attacking Zhao Shicai. At that moment, Xiong Ben decided not to use gunpowder but to use a crossbow to kill the defenders. Firstly, the crossbow was quieter and easier to achieve a surprise effect. Secondly, the quantity of gunpowder was small and should be used at critical moments.
However, the crossbow attack did not achieve the expected effect. Due to the narrowness of the mountain road, only six crossbowmen can fire arrows at the same time. The forest on this secret path is extremely prosperous because it is inaccessible. Although the leaves have basically fallen out in winter, the dense branches still seriously block the crossbows. Due to the sight of his hand and the obstruction of the parapet on the watchtower, none of the six crossbow arrows fired in the first round hit. The two Perak Army defenders were also alert. Before the second round of crossbow arrows were fired, they hurriedly ran down the watchtower, banging the gong and ran towards the back door of Wanjiazhai. Before running away, a Perak Army soldier did not know that For some reason, a rope on the mountain next to the watchtower was ignited.
Seeing the two defenders escaping, Xiong Ben's men rushed towards the guard post, but the path was narrow and dangerous and they could only follow them one by one. The people who rushed in front found that the Perak Army had sealed the sentry gate, so they picked up their swords and axes and bent down to chop, causing wood chips to fly everywhere. Xiong Ben loudly encouraged his men, claiming that as long as they rushed up the mountainside where the watchtower was located, they could charge to Wanjiazhai below, catching the Pili army by surprise, and allowed them to freely plunder for three days after recapturing Wanjiazhai. It's just that the watchtower is made of thick logs, and the space in front of the door only allows two or three people to chop, so there is no way to hack out the way in a short time.
There was a watchtower in front of them, but those behind were still filing in. Soon the path in front of the watchtower was blocked by Xiong Ben's bandit soldiers. Just when the last two pillars were about to be split, someone in the crowded crowd looked around boredly, but accidentally discovered flickering sparks among the branches above their heads. Those with sharp eyes discovered that it was a slowly burning rope. Just when the bandit soldiers were discussing why there were burning ropes on the mountain, the mountain above their heads suddenly collapsed with a loud noise. In an instant, rocks and trees came down one after another, covering the entire mountain path dozens of meters in front of the watchtower.
It turns out that Xiong Ben's plan to attack Wanjiazhai had long been known by the Pili Army spies, and they used it to make a plan. Ouyang Xuan asked Chen Hu, who was in charge of Wanjiazhai, to deliberately reduce the number of guards at the watchtower at the back gate of the village, and also buried a large amount of gunpowder on the mountain above the trail. To ensure that everything was safe, the gunpowder bags and fuses were moisture-proof. When the guards of the Perak Army abandoned the guard tower, the rope they lit was the fuse of the explosive pack.
This mountain blast not only buried alive the more than 30 people who rushed in the front, who were Xiong Ben's most elite bandit soldiers, but more importantly, a large amount of landslide earth and rocks rolled down, and this section of the trail was It was completely destroyed and Xiong Ben's thoughts of raiding Wanjiazhai were completely cut off. Xiong Ben suffered this big loss and had nowhere to vent, so he had no choice but to lead his troops back to Yongkang City in despair.
Zhao Shicai did not know the news that Xiong Ben's sneak attack on Wanjiazhai failed. Due to the long distance and the fact that he was attacking Wanjiabao at the time, Zhao Shicai's troops were unable to hear the deafening sound of artillery, grenade explosions and fighting.
