There is only a steep mountain road leading from Maozhou to Songzhou along the river valley, with steep mountains on one side and rapid rivers on the other. Some sections of the road are carved into the rock wall and are not wide. In many places, only one or two people can pass side by side. As the rock mass is weathered by wind and sun, huge boulders often roll down from the top of the mountain. Those who hit them are all turned into powder, or they are frightened and fall into the raging torrent on the roadside. The mountains in this Tibetan area are high and bitterly cold, and many places are covered with snow all year round. The water in the river comes from the melted snow on the top of the mountain. It is extremely clear but also bitingly cold. Even if you fall into it in summer, you will have a narrow escape. The section of the road about 50 miles from Maozhou City to Songzhou is particularly severely weathered. Every time it rains heavily or is windy, rocks will roll down, and many passers-by are killed. Hence the name Widow's Cliff.
Huang Dagen was preparing to block the Mongolian army from Songzhou at Widow's Cliff. After he was suspended from his position in the naval brigade, he deeply realized his mistakes and understood Ouyang Xuan's good intentions. "Compassion does not control the army." Huang Dagen understood that as a general who led the army, he had indeed made the mistake of laxly managing the army. Brother Xuan helped him in time to prevent it from causing a disastrous defeat on the battlefield in the future. In fact, Ouyang Xuan still trusted Huang Dagen very much. He first asked him to be an assistant in the Perak Army Staff Department to help him handle affairs. The importance of Wei and Mao to the current Perak Army is self-evident, and Ouyang Xuan has always been worried about a sneak attack by the Mongolian army. However, they could not find anyone who had the authority to coordinate and understand the military. After much deliberation, Huang Dagen was sent to Maozhou.
The main force of the Perak Army in Wei-Maozhou is a company from the reconnaissance battalion of the Internal Guard Brigade, followed by a caravan of dozens of people from Taoping, and a platoon of the guard company that came to Maozhou with Huang Dagen. It is impossible to fight against the thousands of cavalry with this strength, and the hundreds of local soldiers in Wei and Mao can only fight with the wind. Seeing that the Mongolian army was powerful, they would have done their best not to tie up the Perak army as a surrender to the Mongols, and it was impossible for them to fight the Mongolian army to the end. Fortunately, during this period, the Ministry of Industry sent forty prospectors to Maozhou to mine copper, nitrate and other minerals, bringing thousands of kilograms of gunpowder with them. When someone suggested using gunpowder to blow up the mountain road to prevent the Mongolian army from advancing, Huang Dagen's heart moved. He decided to do something big, not only to prevent the Mongolian army from advancing, but also to prevent them from retreating.
Before Huang Dagen arrived in the two states of Wei and Mao, Ouyang Xuan had warned him to be prepared for the Mongolian army to attack from Songzhou. Therefore, after arriving in Maozhou City, he investigated the local conditions in detail and also passed by Widow's Cliff. The current situation was so urgent that there was no room for hesitation, so he decided to ambush the Mongolian army at Widow's Cliff. The total length of the dangerous road at Widow's Cliff is about seven miles. Huang Dagen's plan is for miners to bury gunpowder on the cliff above the road. After the Mongolian army enters this section of the road, they will blast the mountains in front and behind the Mongolian army's column at the same time. Rolling stones fell from the sky to kill and injure the Mongolian troops, blocking their forward and retreat paths, trapping them to death, and then catching turtles in a jar. According to the calculations of the prospecting technical workers, the gunpowder they brought was more than enough to achieve this goal.
According to the tradition of the Perak Army, Huang Dagen personally performed the most dangerous tasks. He will lead a reconnaissance company to ambush in the rear section of the encirclement. The first echelon ambushing in front of the encirclement is the guard platoon and sixty guards from the Perak Army caravan, and the second echelon is the local soldiers from Wei Mao and Weizhou. In order to get the two states of Wei and Mao to participate in the operation, Huang Dagen adopted two methods: coercion and inducement. On the one hand, he warned the Mongolian army that they would definitely retaliate against the killing of Daruhuachi and the centurions stationed in the two states. Their brutal habits of massacring the city would be a big mistake. On the other hand, he also promised that the spoils of war, as long as the horses of the Perak Army, including the prisoners, would be handled by the two states of Wei and Mao. Although the officers and soldiers of Wei-Mao and local soldiers were afraid of the Mongols, seeing that Huang Dagen was so confident and the temptation was so great, they hesitated but gritted their teeth and agreed.
Less than half a day after the Perak Army planted gunpowder at Widow's Cliff, a Mongolian cavalry reconnaissance team appeared on the mountain road. On the one hand, the Widow's Cliff is steep and prone to rockfalls. It was difficult for the Perak Army's reconnaissance company personnel and miners to climb to the burial point, and two people were injured in the fall. In the end, several local mountaineers had to risk their lives to climb up by offering a huge reward. On the other hand, the Mongolian army coming from Songzhou was a Tanma Red Army with one man and three horses, marching very fast. Among the Mongolian army, the Red Army is second only to the Mongolian elite. They are composed of soldiers selected from thousands of households, hundreds of households and tribes. They often serve as the vanguard in field battles and attacking castles. After the war, they guard the conquered areas. area. The Tanma Red Army coming from Songzhou are all Semu people from the Western Regions. The Mongols have promised that the land between Songzhou and Guankou Village, including Wei and Mao Prefectures, will be their garrison. This means they will become the owners of the land.
Huang Dagen and his men quietly ambush on the top of the mountain above the road, patiently watching the Mongolian cavalry file into the dangerous section of Widow's Cliff. The soldier lying next to him had already prepared fuses and fuses, and could light the fuses at just an order. Due to the rockfall on this section of the road, the Mongolian army did not dare to ride their horses, but carefully led their horses forward. A thousand people and nearly three thousand horses lined up for more than five miles on this section of the mountain road. When the last horse entered Widow's Cliff, half an hour had passed since the first horses entered.
Seeing the last horse entering Widow's Cliff, Huang Dagen waved his hand silently, and the sparks quickly flew to the cliff along with the lead. Following a huge sound and the earth shaking violently, a large number of stones rolled down the mountain one after another. Many huge stones smashed directly into the river, making a roar mixed with the sound of water spray, and the mountain road below was shrouded in soaring dust. middle.
Then there was a faint roar in the distance. Huang Dagen knew that the mountain in front of the Mongolian army had been successfully blasted, so he led the people towards the mountain road. When we walked down the mountain, the dust became much thinner. Huang Dagen could vaguely see that the mountain road ahead was completely blocked by piles of rocks more than ten meters high, forming a natural city wall.
Listening to the faint screams and wails ahead, Huang Dagen urgently ordered the soldiers to climb to the top of the rocks and prepare for defense. Although the rocks blasted from the mountain just now will cause heavy casualties to the Mongolian army, many people will definitely survive. He was certain that the blasts ahead had definitely blocked the Mongolian army's path forward, but he was not sure how many Mongolian soldiers were killed. Huang Dagen believed that the soldiers of the Perak Army and hundreds of native soldiers from Wei and Mao Prefectures could hold off the Mongolian army based on the rocks. As for his own side, he has absolute confidence in guarding the only way for the Mongolian army to retreat. In this way, it only takes a few days to annihilate this group of Mongolian troops.
Huang Dagen’s confidence is fully supported. This pile of rocks is only a few meters wide but more than ten meters high. On one side is a tall cliff and on the other side is the surging river. Although this reconnaissance company did not have heavy weapons such as artillery, it was equipped with muskets and many grenades. Before the ambush, Huang Dagen ordered people to borrow a lot of short spears and wooden shields from the soldiers, and also used the remaining gunpowder from the blasting to make explosive packets. Before the Mongolian army figured out the situation, the Perak Army had firmly occupied the top of the pile of rocks. It only took a few people to throw grenades to repel a group of Mongolian soldiers.
