Early the next morning, the alarm bell rang again in Mengshantun. Chief Cao hurriedly climbed up the gate tower and looked in the direction of Mingshan City. The militiamen on duty reported that a team of hundreds of people appeared on the official road in the direction of Mingshan City and headed towards the village. It looked like an army. The caravans of the Perak Army often passed through Mengshantun. Although there were hundreds of people, they also carried a large number of mules and horses. The mules and horses also wore bells, which could be heard from a distance. At this moment, this team does not have a few mules and horses, nor does it ring bells, but instead carries many flags. Seeing the standard marching column, Commander Cao understood that this was an army, and it could only be the army of Shancheng.
Looking at the Mingshan Army getting closer and closer, Commander Cao let out a long burp. After snatching back the pork yesterday, he simply ordered others to kill a few more chickens, and gathered the villagers to feast on them to comfort their stomachs, which had not seen grease for a long time. "Come here, what are you afraid of them doing?" Chief Cao thought as he turned around and began to arrange defensive tasks for the militiamen lined up below the gate. He just estimated the number of Mingshan Army at about three hundred people. In the view of Cao Tun, even if this famous mountain army comes with bad intentions or even attacks, Meng Shan Tun is not afraid of them. The villagers who were currently working outside returned to the village when they heard the alarm bell, and the more than a hundred militiamen below the gatehouse also had high morale due to last night's meat meal.
However, based on the caution of sailing a ten thousand year ship, Captain Cao sent someone to Baizhang City to report the situation after confirming that the visitor was an army. He sent people to push the two artillery pieces up the wall and took out the carefully preserved ammunition and grenades. The weather in western Sichuan is humid and rainy, and gunpowder is prone to moisture. Grenades and artillery also need to be regularly oiled and maintained, and stored in dry rooms. The garrison brigade regularly sends people to inspect the defense conditions of each militia company and stockade. If anyone is found to have failed to implement the regulations, the village commander and the officers of the militia company will be punished.
The Mingshan Army stopped half a mile in front of the gate of the stronghold, and sent people to shout in front of the gate tower, demanding that Mengshantun hand over the bandits, otherwise everyone would be punished for harboring the bandits after the stronghold was breached. The villagers were confused after hearing this shouting, and Chief Cao repeatedly explained to the Mingshan Army that this was a farming land under the rule of the Pili Army, and there were neither bandits nor harboring bandits. It's just that the famous mountain military captain who led the team was willing to listen, saying that it was just the people in the village who were quibbling. After all, the robbers are all cunning and lawless people, Na willing to admit it. It seems that they are unwilling to take the initiative to confess without giving them some clues.
It turned out that the team of famous mountain soldiers who stole the pigs yesterday injured several people and lost many weapons. During the escape process, the road was slippery, and several people panicked and fell. The team leader also suffered a bruise and a swollen face. The team was really angry when the roasted pig was not eaten but turned into a pig's head. In addition, he was afraid of being held accountable by his superiors. After returning to the camp, he went directly to the captain who was leading the team today and cried, saying that he had hunted a wild boar today and wanted to bring it back to honor his superiors. Unexpectedly, a group of nearly a hundred bandits suddenly attacked. Fortunately, he and his brothers fought bravely and advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and were able to repel the bandits. But these bandits were so powerful that they not only robbed the wild boar, but also injured several brothers. He saw with his own eyes that these bandits were hiding in Mengshantun.
These words made the captain furious. The rampant bandits actually bullied the officers and soldiers, and even snatched away the wild boar that was honoring him. This was incredible. He immediately roared, "Uncle can bear it, but aunt can't bear it either." This old man dressed in rough clothes was very funny. He said "what is tolerable and what is intolerable" like this, which made the clerk next to him blush. It’s really uncomfortable to say that I want to laugh but don’t dare to. At that moment, the captain rushed to his superior, the garrison of Shangmingshan City, and reported that there were bandits blocking the road and robbing them, and he was willing to lead his troops to eliminate them. The guard was having a good time drinking wine with his concubine in his mansion. When he heard that something like this happened in his jurisdiction, he agreed without hesitation.
It seemed to the captain that Meng Shantun was going to drink fine wine instead of being toasted, so he immediately ordered an attack. Chief Cao, who was standing on the gatehouse, was really annoyed when he saw this. This mountain soldier was really bullying people. He wanted to destroy the village after trying to steal the pigs. He was really overbearing. At that moment, he loudly ordered the militiamen to prepare for battle, and at the same time shouted to the Mingshan Army, stating that Mengshantun was the boundary of Baizhang County and was under the jurisdiction of the Perak Army. If trouble occurs, the Pili Army will definitely not give up.
Who would have expected that these words would make the Mingshan Army soldiers even more angry, and they would rush towards the village wall with howls. It's okay not to mention the Thunderbolt Army, but when this name is mentioned, these Qiu Ba's hearts are filled with anger. According to the stories told by storytellers and wandering monks, the Pili Army is soaring into the sky, while the rest of the Song Army is declining. How can we keep them from being annoyed? What's more, the caravans of the Perak Army came and went, and the benefits were reaped by the security officers and tax collectors, which really made people jealous and angry. Nowadays, these unscrupulous people are pretending to be powerful and want to use the Thunderbolt Army to suppress them. Why do they take the famous mountain army seriously?
After all, they are regular troops, and these ruffians attack in a well-organized manner. They first suppressed the wall with bows and arrows, and then sent sword and shield men to rush to the wall. Mengshantun is surrounded by deep trenches and thick earthen walls, but after all, it is an earthen enclosure guarded by militiamen. It is effective in dealing with bandits, but it is obviously not good enough to fight against regular troops. Although the militiamen under Chief Cao were equipped with swords, spears, and shields, they only had very few long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows, and were unable to resist the rain of arrows from the Mingshan Army. This was actually a common problem among the second-line troops of the Perak Army.
Yazhou is mountainous, and the soldiers are good at fighting in the mountains. Without any counterattack from the top of the wall, the Mingshan Army soldiers easily crossed the trench, climbed to the base of the wall, and began to dig up the base of the wall. It is said that the earth wall is only more than three meters high. Famous mountain soldiers who are good at climbing can easily climb to the top of the wall, but they will be stabbed by spears during the climb. It was attached to the base of the wall, out of reach of spears, and had a shield to block stones thrown down from it, so it was very safe. During this period of time, the rain has softened the earthen wall, making it extremely easy to dig. As long as a few big holes are dug, Mengshantun will be within reach.
Chief Cao became anxious when he saw it. The militiamen on the wall were suppressed by bows and arrows. Although they were protected by shields, dozens of them were shot and wounded. The militiamen also took advantage of the intervals between firing bows and arrows and threw a lot of stones, but they did not knock down a few people. If this continues, Mengshantun will definitely not be able to hold on. At that moment, he ordered the artillery on the gate tower to fire and ordered grenades to be thrown. He had not ordered the use of firearms before. On the one hand, he did not want to escalate the situation, and on the other hand, the number of firearms was not large. The Perak Army gave priority to equipping firearms at the settlement points at the junction with the Mongolian Army. Mengshantun, located in the hinterland, was not equipped with many firearms. It was only enough to equip one squad, with only a few muskets, more than 30 grenades, and two Mines. The two light artillery pieces only had about ten rounds of ammunition.
As soon as the cannon fired, the archers of the famous mountain army retreated like a tide. Without the suppression of the archers, the soldiers who were digging into the wall with their buttocks stuck out were unlucky and were hit by the densely falling stones and fled. There were grenades among the falling stones, and after the explosion, there was even more wailing. However, Commander Cao ordered them to be used sparingly and not many grenades were thrown away.
