After finally surviving a long night in the cold and hungry, the new auxiliary troops in Dayi County finally looked forward to dawn and breakfast - the cold and damp northwest wind in the mountains. Zhao Shicai also didn't sleep a wink all night. He knew that the mountain road he was trapped in was what the art of war calls a death place. Not only is there no danger to defend here, but more importantly, there is no food or water. Now the physical strength of the soldiers under his command has been severely reduced after just one night of hunger. The longer they spend here, the worse it will be. If they don't rush out as soon as possible, not to mention the Perak Army coming to attack, the hunger and cold alone will make these hundreds of soldiers helpless, and the result of staying in place will be certain death. The only solution for now is to break the boat, either to capture Wanjiabao at the foot of the mountain, or to capture Wanjiazhai halfway up the mountain. He took stock and found that there were 500 soldiers when he led out of Wanjiabao, and there were still more than 400 now. After deducting dozens of wounded, there were still more than 300 people who could fight, which made Zhao Shicai still feel that he was capable of fighting.
In the direction of attack, Zhao Shicai chose Wanjiazhai. In fact, Zhao Shicai's choice was correct. Although the wooden Wanjiazhai attacked from above, its defense was obviously much inferior to the concrete Wanjiabao. But even so, this was not something that Dayi's new auxiliary army, which lacked siege equipment and had low morale, could capture it. You must know that the company guarding Wanjiazhai was the most powerful company in the Perak Army. Different from the active attack the day before yesterday, the company at this time could not hold on. It used artillery to bombard the enemy from a distance and threw grenades when it was near. The bombing made the new annexed troops unable to get close to the wall, let alone attack the top of the wall.
After several consecutive attacks, leaving corpses and wailing wounded soldiers everywhere, the morale of the newly attached soldiers became even lower. No matter how they were coerced or induced, they refused to move forward, and even drew swords against the soldiers supervising the battle. Facing the glaring soldiers, Zhao Shicai felt really guilty. He knew the consequences of forcing these hungry soldiers into a hurry. Hungry, fatigued and low in morale, the newly attached soldiers staggered around, lying on the mountain road or lying on the mountain road to rest. Although the new annexed army no longer attacked, Chen Hu still ordered them to stick to the wall behind closed doors. Anyway, the longer it took, the better it would be for the Perak Army.
The battle situation is at a stalemate, but the two sides have different feelings about the speed of time passing. The hungry soldiers of the newly affiliated army shivered in the cold wind of early winter and felt that time passed extremely slowly. However, the soldiers of the Perak Army, who were dressed warmly and had hot food, felt that time passed very quickly, and it was night again before they knew it. The night is particularly difficult for the newly attached troops. Compared with the sharp drop in temperature, they can huddle together to keep each other warm. They can sleep without food, but the thirst is unbearable. Zhao Shicai's personal entourage did bring wine and dried meat, but it was too little. Except for Zhao Shicai who barely ate enough, even the personal soldiers around him only had a small portion, so they couldn't take care of the ordinary soldiers. Due to hunger and thirst, the newly attached soldiers had no choice but to suck the dew on the hay beside the road. However, there was too little dew to relieve their thirst. Instead, they had stomachaches due to the filth they had sucked in, so that the long mountain road was filled with a foul smell.
Dawn came again in the midst of hardship, which meant that it had been two days and two nights since the newly affiliated troops of Dayi County entered the mountains, and it also meant that they had not eaten in the past two days and two nights since they entered the mountains. This was also the result of Zhao Shicai's arrogance and arrogance. The easy capture of Wanjiabao made him extremely inflated. Seeing that the sun was still early, he did not let the soldiers rest, but ordered him to immediately advance lightly and quickly to capture Wanjiazhai before noon. "Soldiers are valuable and quick. Wanjiazhai has wine, meat and women waiting for us," he said to his men at that time in order to boost morale. In these troubled times, food is extremely scarce. Except for the dignitaries who can ensure that they are well fed, it is good for ordinary people to have one meal a day. The newly attached army is no exception, but to ensure combat effectiveness, they can eat both morning and evening meals during the war. The meals that the soldiers had eaten at Hengyuan Village before entering the mountains were almost consumed after half a day of rapid march, and their stomachs were already empty. How could they resist Zhao Shicai's trick of looking at plum blossoms to quench thirst, which made the newly attached soldiers salivate, their eyes shine, and they rush forward in a swarm.
When the light fog on the mountain road slowly dissipated, the sound of gongs came from Wanjiazhai on the mountain. The soldiers of the newly attached army paid no attention to him and were still lying on the mountain road. Following the sound of gongs, several Perak Army soldiers slowly walked to a stone's throw away from the Xin Affiliated Army soldiers, put down two earthen jars and walked back to the village. Not long after, the tangy aroma of meat floated from the earthen pot to the crowd below. The hungry newly attached soldiers could not withstand this temptation. They struggled to get up and pounced on it with shaky steps. Crock, no matter whether this is a trap by the Thunderbolt Army. Someone rushed over and accidentally knocked over the earthenware pot, spilling the broth all over the floor. This made the aroma even stronger, causing people behind to squeeze forward as hard as they could. The newly attached soldiers next to the earthen jar didn't care whether the food was poisonous or not. They grabbed the pieces of meat covered with sand and stuffed it into their mouths. They were so anxious that those who didn't eat it became angry and started to fight with each other. The food in these two earthen jars was not much, and the food on the ground was trampled into the mud due to the fighting. There was not much food in the mouth. On the contrary, the smell made the newly attached soldiers even hungrier. At this time, another gong sound came from Wanjiazhai. After the gong sound, the soldiers of the Perak Army shouted in unison: "Only punish the first culprit, surrender and avoid death, put down your weapons, and have enough food." There was a brief silence after the shouting. Finally, a small officer pulled away from the crowd and staggered towards Wanjiazhai Gate. Seeing someone taking the lead, the rest followed one after another. After a while, most of the newly attached soldiers on the mountain road left, leaving only Zhao Shicai and more than 40 soldiers around him.
The surrendered prisoners had their weapons confiscated and, as expected, were given steaming food and soup. After Chen Hu left someone to look after the surrendered troops, he immediately led a platoon of soldiers to the remnants of the newly attached army on the mountain road. When he got closer, he discovered that a group of Perak Army soldiers had also come from the direction of Wanjiabao at the foot of the mountain. By shouting through the distance, Chen Hu knew that it was the Second Company led by Shi Zhongshu. Under the attack from up and down by the 1st and 2nd companies of the Perak Army, the remnants of the new auxiliary army, who were so hungry that they could not hold their weapons firmly, had no will to resist. After several people were killed, they surrendered one after another. Only Zhao Shicai was extremely stubborn. He held on to his shield and drew his sword and refused to surrender. However, several Perak soldiers knocked him to the ground with spear poles. After his hands and feet were tied, they were carried to Wanjiabao with wooden sticks.
