Facing the thrusts of the horse thorns, the vanguard troops wearing light armor suffered heavy casualties. Even the soldiers in the front row, holding large shields, had difficulty gaining a foothold due to the steep slope of the terrain, and were stabbed repeatedly. His body would stagger uncontrollably, and if he was not careful, he might be stabbed in the lower body by the horse spear.
In desperation, the soldier could only place his big shield on the ground and press his whole body on the shield, so that he could completely resist Ma Shan's thrust.
But in this case, they could not continue to advance. The other soldiers could only hide behind the shields. There were also brave soldiers who rushed out of the protection of the shields and tried to go around and rush into the fortress. As a result, they were immediately counted as soon as they ran out of the shields. The root of the horse tree is overturned.
This stalemate lasted for a cup of tea before the vanguard troops climbed up one after another.
The shield soldiers advanced steadily, while the remaining soldiers scattered and outflanked the fortress from both sides.
Qin Feng, who was located in the watchtower, had a panoramic view of the frontline battle situation. When the enemy surrounded Fortress No. 1, the soldiers guarded the exit of the fortress and fought hand to hand with the enemy. Qin Feng made a quick decision, picked up the drumstick, and struck the cowhide drum behind him three times.
As the drums sounded, the No. 2 and No. 3 forts, which were at odds with the No. 1 fort, launched blind fire with indiscriminate coverage on the battlefield below.
Because all the soldiers on the front line of the battlefield were hiding in the fortress, they remained unscathed even if they were covered by arrows. At the same time, the enemy soldiers who surrounded Fortress No. 1 were in misery. Just the first wave of arrows shot down more than a dozen people. The second wave of arrows rained down, and there were more than a dozen people.
There were not many enemy soldiers attacking, and nearly thirty of them fell in an instant. For the enemy, it was tantamount to a heavy blow.
The shield soldiers cannot be scattered. Only by setting up piers can the true function of the shield be demonstrated.
The enemy soldiers who lacked the protection of shields were immediately attacked by horses and arrows from both inside and outside. In just one cup of tea, the two hundred enemy soldiers who rushed up had to retreat in a hurry after leaving more than a hundred corpses behind.
However, since the combat platform was already crowded with follow-up troops, there was no extra space for the retreating soldiers to take refuge.
These soldiers who fled in panic retreated to the mountainside in one breath.
At the same time, the following three hundred vanguard soldiers took over from the former and continued to attack Fortress No. 1.
If the enemy wants to conquer the fortress, there is no good way at all. They can only rely on pure attrition tactics and rush up one after another.
Qin Feng only needs to follow the same method. First, let the enemy troops approach the fortress, and the soldiers guarding the No. 1 fortress will rely on close weapons to resist. Then, the No. 2 and 3 fortresses will be condescending and covered with arrows.
The 500 vanguard troops were all wiped out in just half an hour.
Zhang Tao, the temporarily promoted commander of the search and suppression army, was a county lieutenant in the local county town and had rich experience in suppressing mountain bandits.
Seeing that the vanguard troops were exhausted, Zhang Tao decisively ordered to continue to send more troops to attack the mountain. In his opinion, fighting was similar to suppressing bandits. As long as they relied on numerical superiority to press forward, they would have won.
At the same time, in the camp located on the mountainside, Xu Qian and Liu Qing looked at the battle on the mountain with bright faces.
Xu Qian clasped his hands behind his back, feeling that the victory was already decided and it was only a matter of time before the bandits were wiped out.
Liu Qing, who was on the side, spared no effort to flatter him: "This Tianji camp guard has always been a headache for you. Now that you have forced such bandits into a desperate situation, you only need to kill them all, and you will be able to achieve great success. I'm afraid that time , Your Majesty will personally meet and reward you."
These words were said into Xu Qian's heart.
Although he lacked actual combat experience, he also knew that in this case, the best choice was to surround the mountain, not to attack it.
The reason why they are so focused on attacking and killing all the enemy bandits is naturally because these enemy bandits have unusual identities.
The heads of these Tianji Camp guards are Xu Qian’s ladder to heaven!
As for how many of his soldiers died, he didn't care.
As the saying goes, one general's success will cost ten thousand bones.
Success on the battlefield, how can there be immortality?
"Liu Qing, I remember you as a supporter these days, and I will naturally not forget you in the future."
What Liu Qing wanted was this sentence. He immediately bowed gratefully, and then his eyes revealed a hint of treachery: "My lord, you should immediately send someone to the royal capital to deliver the good news."
Hearing this, Xu Qian was a little surprised: "Isn't it a little early? You have also seen that the guards of Tianji Camp are very difficult to deal with. Facing the siege of thousands of my troops, if they persist so far, I am afraid that they will be attacked within a day and a half. Don’t go down to this Qingyu Mountain.”
Xu Qian secretly sighed in his heart. In all his life, he had never seen anyone as tough as the Tianji camp guards.
Liu Qing also understood the combat power of the Tianji Camp guards. The reason why Xu Qian went back immediately to claim credit was not based on battlefield considerations.
"Sir, this place is too close to the border. Once the frontline generals learn that the enemy has been forced into a desperate situation, it is inevitable that someone will take advantage of the opportunity to come and take credit. Besides, Chen Ping has been imprisoned. If General Chen Si takes the opportunity to attack , so what? As long as you have this credit, no one can touch you."
Upon hearing this, Xu Qian couldn't help but be shaken.
Then Chen Si is highly relied upon by the emperor, and no one can guarantee whether Chen Si will help Chen Ping to avenge his hatred.
Moreover, this place is more than a month's journey away from the royal capital. Even if the messengers hurry up, it will take at least five days to get back to the royal capital.
Five days later, the enemy invaders had long been killed, so it was not considered a lie about the military situation.
After thinking about this, Xu Qian no longer hesitated. Following Liu Qing's suggestion, he called the messengers and immediately sent the good news to the capital.
When the messengers left, Xu Qian's eyes were full of light, as if he was one step closer to entering the royal capital. Looking at the battle on the mountain, he couldn't help but feel proud.
"Liu Qing, how long do you think it will take before we can break through the enemy's first fortress?"
Liu Qing blurted out without thinking: "One hour at most!"
"Then the enemy, no matter how powerful they are, can't defeat the number of soldiers and generals, and one of them will die. There are still 7,000 troops under your command. Even if they are exhausted, they can kill the 200 enemy invaders on the mountain."
These words are very encouraging!
The corners of Xu Qian's mouth turned up slightly involuntarily.
Time gradually passed, one cup of tea, one stick of incense, one hour, until three hours later, the sky was already dark, and the battle on the mountain was still going on.
It would be fine to say that they had reached the top of the mountain. The problem was that after a day of deadly fighting, they could not even break through the enemy's first line of defense.
Xu Qian couldn't sit still anymore, grabbed a big soldier, and roared: "What on earth are the front lines doing? Why did we fight for a whole day and didn't even break through the first line of defense!"
The big-headed soldier looked innocent: "Sir, how could the young one know? You have to ask the frontline commander about this."
Frontline commander? Zhang Tao!
