Zeng Ba supported the proactive attack plan with both hands and feet, and soon issued an assembly order to the troops.
Three hundred men were left to defend each side in the south and east, and 1,200 men were mobilized the next day, and a battle plan was agreed upon with the subordinate officers.
In the early morning of the first day of September, Zeng Ba led his army to Lugeng Village, eight miles northwest of Dingzhai. Lin Yingjia was already waiting here with 500 soldiers and 2,000 civilians.
Fu Yixin also recruited about 300 Turkish troops from the Babuza people, of which Lujia Village contributed nearly 100, which was basically all the young men in the village.
As the first tribe to surrender, Lujia Village has enjoyed many benefits. The farming technology alone has been improved by countless levels. The millet harvest this year is four to five times that of before.
There were also other changes in various aspects and the improvement of living standards, which made Lujia Village more and more supportive of the rule of the Song Dynasty.
The other villages were somewhat shaken, but Fu Yixin had also established a certain prestige in the past few months, and the Song people were still powerful, so whether they were willing or not, they finally sent some people.
Lugeng Village is close to Bird Creek, but it is still more than 20 miles away from the mouth of the sea. On the other side is the Dadu Mountain Platform. Even if the Pabula people found the bridge here, they would be unable to interfere and stop it.
When Zeng Ba arrived, a pontoon bridge made of rafts had been built, so he immediately commanded the troops to cross the river without any delay.
Fu Yixin led Minzhuang and Turkish troops pushing wheelbarrows to follow, while Lin Yingjia led two hundred soldiers to stay behind and reinforce the pontoon bridge.
After crossing the Bird Creek and traveling northwest along the river for sixteen miles, you can see a Pabra tribe.
Pabra's population is probably slightly larger than that of Babuza, but its production level is higher. It can build wooden boats, collect wild ramie to weave cloth and make fishing nets, and also knows how to boil the sea to make salt.
Relying on fishing can meet most of the food needs, and then use salt to trade with surrounding tribes, especially the Kedaran tribe in the north in exchange for iron tools. Therefore, they are relatively rich and powerful, and the scale of each tribe is relatively larger.
It is said that they were the ones who established the Dadu Kingdom two to three hundred years later in history. When it was at its most powerful, they included the surrounding Babuza, Bazehai, Ducas, and a small number of Taya tribes. the scope of domination.
It seems that Yilin who sang "Twirl and jump with eyes closed" in later generations is a descendant of the Pabra tribe.
Around this time, the Pabra tribe had already shown signs of expansion. While forming alliances with the Ducas tribe in the north and the Bazehai tribe on the east side of the Datu Mountain platform, they were also making moves against the Babuza tribe.
Who knows that Babuza is the softest persimmon, and the territory is more suitable for the development route of the Pabra tribe.
But I didn't expect that just when I had some ideas, a group of overseas people appeared out of nowhere and swallowed up the prey that was supposed to be theirs. They also sent people over to investigate and negotiate. Apparently they wanted to swallow them up too. This was really bullying. .
So the Pabula people were very angry, and probably with the idea of testing the strength of the Song people, they crossed the Bird Creek several times to provoke and harass the Babuza people. As a result, they ran into the Song army and were beaten to death. More than a dozen people were killed and injured. , and then became much more honest.
In fact, it was the Song Army that maintained restraint, otherwise how could the Pabra tribe only suffer so many casualties, and when they saw them fleeing, the Song Army did not pursue and counterattack.
But a few months later, a large ship from overseas came to visit with tribesmen from the south. They gave many gifts and invited the Pabra people to jointly deal with the Song people.
The Pabra people may have healed their scars and forgotten the pain, or they may be coveting the territory of the Babuza tribe, so they hit it off immediately, and also roped in the Bazehai and Ducas tribes. Their main tasks are to harass and destroy in the north. The fishing operations of the Song people.
They obviously didn't realize the consequences of completely irritating the Song people.
When the Song people were building the bridge, the Bazehai people who were active in the mountains on the other side had already discovered it and hurriedly summoned their fellow tribesmen and Pabra people.
By the time they gathered seventy or eighty warriors from their clan and arrived, the Song army had already crossed most of them.
Looking at the huge army on both sides of Bird Creek that exceeded all their imaginations, the native warriors were frightened and did not dare to take the lead.
The conflicts and fights between the tribes on the island are very frequent, and they may be fierce and cruel, but it is remarkable that only dozens or hundreds of people participate.
Nowadays, the size of the Song army is nearly 4,000, which not only scares the Pabra people, but also the Babuza people are deeply shocked.
The natives couldn't tell that there were only 1,500 regular troops inside, and the other 2,000 were civilians doing auxiliary work. After all, there was no dedicated army on the island.
More than 300 Turkish troops became more and more respectful and took the initiative to open the road.
The Song army has gradually become accustomed to the environment on the island. Even if there is no formal road, the marching speed is not slow, and they arrived outside the first Pabra tribe before noon.
This tribe is about the same size as the one in Lujia Village. It is also surrounded by ditches, with thorn fences and wooden fences as walls. Behind the fences are densely packed natives, armed with earthen bows and javelins.
To the north of the tribal village, there were still old, young, women and children evacuating, and many young and strong natives with weapons came to support them.
The Song army did not intend to encircle them. They only formed an orderly formation more than 30 feet away from the southern wall and assembled crossbows and tornado cannons.
The cyclone cannon is also a type of trebuchet. Its structure is relatively simple. You only need to insert the support rod into the ground to fix it, and then install the detachable gun tip part. It can be used. When launching, ten people pull the rope, which can lift a weight of five kilograms. The projectile was projected thirty to forty feet away.
Zeng Ba stood on the newly erected command platform and observed for a while. He estimated that there would be no more than 500 natives in the village, so there was no challenge at all. He couldn't help but touch his chin and said calmly, "Send the order, hurry up and destroy it." Come to this village for lunch!”
Fu Yixin, who came with the army, originally planned to follow the Central Plains practice and send people to persuade him to surrender first, but since Zeng Ba said so, he thought it would be better to give the natives a warning first, so he had no objection.
Just as the Song army was preparing to attack, Ganmaha Mahuo, the leader of the Pabra tribe, arrived with more than 20 of the strongest warriors from the tribe.
Unlike the loose Babuza tribe, the Pabra tribe has a unified leader, who is basically the Ganmaha family and has certain organizational capabilities.
When Ma Huo saw thousands of Song troops forming a tight and complex military formation under the command of dazzling flags and golden drum slogans, he felt his scalp numb and his breathing became heavier and heavier.
Everything in front of him made him realize that the people of Song Dynasty were thousands of times more powerful than he thought, but he didn't know how to provoke them. Now it was too late to regret.
Seeing that most of the warriors in the clan were scared to death, Ma Huo could only bite the bullet and boost morale.
He waved the treasured sword given by overseas people, walked back and forth inside the fence, shouted and encouraged, and finally made the warriors stop being in a daze and prepare for the attack of the Song Dynasty.
When Zeng Ba saw this scene, he became interested and said, "The one with many chicken feathers on his head and jumping up and down must be a native chief, right?"
Fu Yixin naturally saw it, "It should be so. If possible, please also ask Commander Zeng to capture him alive. It may be beneficial to the future aftermath."
Zeng Ba just nodded. No one can say for sure what will happen on the battlefield. Whether he can be captured alive depends on the chief's own luck.
Immediately, the officers under his command reported that they were ready. Zeng Ba drew his sword for a moment and said, "Attack! Defeat the enemy stronghold!"
The loud horn blasts into the sky, and the huge killing machine starts to move.
Twenty cyclone cannons were fired in unison, and black fire oil cans streaked across the sky. Some hit the wooden fence, and some fell in front of and behind the wooden fence. They shattered and splashed out a thick liquid with a pungent smell.
Only five or six unlucky natives were injured by the fragments of the clay pot, but Ma Huo and all the natives did not dare to take the things sent by the Song army lightly, even if they did not understand what the liquid was used for.
The cyclone cannon was reloaded very quickly and immediately fired out twenty more fire oil cans. At the same time, the two hundred archers under the cover of the front row of shield walls launched ignited gunpowder arrows.
The native warriors also fired arrows at Ma Huo's orders to fight back. However, their native bows were too backward, and they did not have the luxury to use iron arrowheads. They were already very weak when they reached the front of the Song army's formation, and they were shot after putting on their shields. Even if more than a dozen troops crossed the shield wall and fell into the formation, they could not do anything to the Song Army's iron helmets and leather armor, and they did not achieve any results.
The Song Army's gunpowder arrows were not designed to kill people, and they were thrown. However, after falling, many of them pierced into the bodies of the unarmored natives, and were burned by the jet of flames, giving off the smell of barbecue.
Of course, there were still more gunpowder arrows that completed their job and ignited the kerosene. Large wooden fences and thorn bushes turned into a sea of fire. The native warriors who were stained with kerosene but did not know how to run away also became fire man.
The blazing flames drove all the native warriors who were in panic and confusion away from the fence, and seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
Zeng Ba pinched his chin hard, suddenly feeling that he was indeed a bit too bullying.
But when it comes to fighting, of course you have to go all out. After all, although the Song army has an absolute advantage in equipment, the natives are not incapable of fighting back, especially their javelins. Even if they don't have an iron head, if they can be thrown, there is a high probability that they will be Can penetrate leather armor.
If you can take advantage of weapons and range to completely defeat the natives, then why not do it.
At this time, Ma Huo also understood that his village could not play any defensive role at all. Instead, he could only be beaten if he stayed here. The casualties among the warriors in the clan also aroused his ferocity, so he decided to launch a counterattack.
He was not stupid. He did not plan to attack the Song Army from the front. Instead, he divided more than 400 people into two groups, leaving the stronghold from the east and west directions, and then attacked the Song Army's formation from both wings. He believed that with the bravery and fearlessness of his own warriors, as long as If you can rush in and fight hand to hand, you will definitely be able to kill the people of Song Dynasty.
Unfortunately, all his actions fell into Zeng Ba's eyes, and he immediately sent an order to turn the flat formation into a flying geese formation.
Ma Huo personally led one of his troops to the west and rushed towards the Song army in a chaotic manner. However, before he could get closer, he found to his surprise that the Song army was still facing him head-on, and the shield wall was tightly sealed without any flaws.
This guy is really stubborn. You must know that even the Mongols who have conquered the world are not willing to directly attack the Song army's infantry formation.
Ordinarily, this courage was not sung by a certain Yilin...
Ma Huo had the intention of retreating, but when he saw that the warriors around him were all on top, he just gritted his teeth and continued to charge forward.
Zeng Ba, who was on the command platform in the Song army formation, watched the natives rushing from both sides with contempt on his face, intending to annihilate them in one fell swoop after getting close enough.
At this time, Fu Yixin suggested, "Control, I think it is better to defeat them, and then our army will follow and kill them. This will save us from attacking one village after another. After all, our time is limited and we can't afford it."
Zeng Bali thought for a while and felt that it made sense. It was a common tactic to use the defeated army to retreat, so when the natives were still more than thirty feet away from each other, he ordered an attack.
Immediately, Ma Huo saw the Song Army's tight shield wall suddenly crack. At each crack, there was first a person sitting, then a person kneeling, and the last person standing, holding a bow-like weapon in his hand, shining with cold light. The arrows are as dense as stars.
All of a sudden, these stars flew out, covering the sky.
Although it was not the best killing range, it still caused a bloody storm among the natives, and less than half of them fell to the ground on the spot.
Just one salvo made the natives frightened. Regardless of whether they were injured or not, as long as they could still run, they immediately turned around and fled, a few minutes faster than when they came.
Zeng Ba shrugged, "Send the order, the third command, the fifth command immediately pursue! The rest of the troops, advance in an orderly manner, the Turkish army cleans the battlefield! It seems that this lunch has to be postponed..."
This pursuit lasted until evening, and seven villages were broken through on the road, leaving only Pabra's village on the south bank of Dajia River and on Haifeng Mountain.
Some people died, but not completely...
