On the frontal battlefield of Shimen Mountain, Wu Sangui's troops in Ningyuan Town were making relatively smooth progress, although they had not yet broken through the key defense lines of the Qing army.
But fortunately, with the support of the Shenji Battalion's artillery team, relying on the red cannons along the way, especially the poison bombs and smoke bombs shot by the mortars, they easily advanced to the foot of Shimen Mountain.
However, after successfully seizing the Qing army's position at the foot of the mountain, they encountered obstacles while continuing to attack the mountain.
Although the slopes at the southern foot of Shimen Mountain are relatively gentle, as the terrain gets higher and higher, the Hongyi cannon can no longer push forward and can only carry the small mortar cannons and tiger squat cannons forward.
Everything on their side was proceeding step by step. Only after taking the foot of the mountain and starting to actually attack the mountain did they encounter strong resistance.
However, thanks to the excellent operation of the Shenji Battalion gunners, the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Mortar Cannon are most suitable for fighting in this kind of terrain. The only disadvantage is that the caliber is too small and not very powerful.
However, dangers were also encountered during the journey.
At that time, not long after the Qing artillery array at Niangniang Temple was captured, the officers and soldiers of Ningyuan Town were attacking all the way forward. As the commander-in-chief, Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan Town, accompanied Chen Jiugao, the commander-in-chief of the Shenji Battalion, chatting and laughing at the Chinese Army General Station.
The two of them were originally playboys, so naturally they got along very harmoniously, and there was a feeling of regret for meeting each other at a late age.
In fact, Chen Jiugao still likes Wu Sangui very much. Whether it is his conversation, knowledge, or even his current status and background, he is first-class.
As long as he did not argue with Zhang Cheng, Chen Jiugao would naturally stand with him. Looking at all the current generals in Liaodong, apart from Zhang Cheng, Wu Sangui might be the only one who could catch his eye.
By the way, there was another person who got along well with him, and that was Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong.
Returning to the main text of the book, the story returns to its original topic. Just as Wu Sangui and Chen Jiugao were talking and laughing while pointing at Shimen Mountain, a group of Manchurian Zhengbai Banner soldiers rushed out of nowhere.
The gunners on the front artillery array had always been concentrating on firing. They had never seen such a situation before. For a moment, they didn't know how to deal with it, and they immediately panicked.
Fortunately, there was a group of guards from Ningyuan Town. They rushed over in time to stop these Tatar thieves. However, the Tatar thieves were very powerful and would not be able to last long depending on the situation.
Chen Jiugao also stood up suddenly, with a look of horror on his face, pointing forward and shouting: "Wu...General Wu...quickly...quickly guard the soldiers..."
Wu Sangui was also frightened. The reason why he was like this was that he didn't know where this group of Tatar thieves came from; and secondly, he thought that if this group of Tatar thieves could attack the artillery array, they could also attack his own army.
Furthermore, he also felt sorry for Chen Jiugao. After all, he had already spoken a lot of lies just now. With his own army charging forward, the brothers in the Shenji Battalion would never be harmed or even frightened. , as long as you can have sex with peace of mind.
Now that something like this happened, how could Wu Sangui not be angry? He raised his big foot, stepped heavily on the chair he had just sat on, and reached out to take out a bamboo stick from his boot.
Wu Sangui just glanced at it and shouted: "Duan Xiaoshi, go kill all those Tatars for me!"
A young man who was not old but very strong immediately jumped up outside the Chinese Army General's Platform. He caught the flying bamboo stick and said loudly: "Yes."
Duan Xiaoshi strode away, and after hearing him shout for a while, he took less than a hundred equally strong young men and rushed towards the artillery array 200 steps away.
According to rumors, Wu Sangui had soldiers hidden in his boots. Today Chen Jiugao was able to see it in person and was shocked. For a moment, he forgot about the safety of the soldiers in the camp in front of the artillery array.
Chen Jiugao, who was full of surprise, stared at Wu Sangui's boots and asked, "I have heard about it earlier, that General Chang Bo hides soldiers in his boots. Today I can see it in person, so the rumors are true!"
He took two steps and asked again: "But how does General Chang Bo know which general's name is on this bamboo stick?"
"Hahaha……"
Wu Sangui laughed heartily.
After laughing, he put his feet on the chair again and pulled out a bamboo stick from his boot. This time he did not order anyone to fight, but handed it to Chen Jiugao.
He also said: "It's a joke to Brother Chen. This is nothing like hiding soldiers in boots."
Chen Jiugao also looked at the bamboo stick with a puzzled face. Looking carefully, he saw the words "He Qiuguang" clearly written on the bamboo stick.
Wu Sangui said again at this time: "Brother, you can see that there is a name written on the sign of a certain family."
He then further explained: "A certain family was always lazy and couldn't remember the names of the primary schools under their command, so they wrote down their names on the sign so that they would not be called by mistake.
Later, during a certain battle, he couldn't remember the name of the primary school under his command. Suddenly he remembered the stick in his boot, so he took out one and called his name, assigning military affairs to him.
From then on, it became a habit to put the names of the generals and generals who would accompany the guards every day on the sticks inserted into the boots. When a battle came, the names would be drawn and the names would be drawn. "
Chen Jiugao listened with great interest. Although he was a dandy, he still understood the key point at once.
Thoughts: No wonder Wu Sangui is already in the Emperor's heart at such a young age. In addition to his background as a general in Western Liaoning, he also has some strength and ability of his own.
In fact, what Wu Sangui said just now was true, but it also meant to show off.
First of all, it describes the number of servants under his command. Imagine that each servant has dozens or hundreds of servants, but he cannot remember the names of these servants. This shows that he is showing off the servants under his command. Public.
Secondly, whenever there was an emergency in the war, he would just randomly draw lots. If the servant was chosen, he would call out his name and ask him to lead his servants to fight, but he would only draw the chosen one and never change it.
The implication of these words is that Wu Sangui's servants are all elites who can protect themselves. There is no need to choose at all. No matter what the task is, as long as one team is sent out, it will be completed.
Even if this team cannot complete it, then send another team up instead of choosing which team to send!
Chen Jiugao gave a thumbs up and praised loudly: "General Chang Bo has many sharp soldiers in the field. It is really admirable."
Not long after the two of them talked, Duan Xiaoshi, who had just run away, came back to his life. All his clothes and armor were taken off, revealing his bronze tendons.
When Duan Xiaoshi came to Wu Sangui, he was still gasping for air. He knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and saluted, "Come back, Commander, thirty-seven of the Tatars holding the white flag were beheaded on the spot.
Eleven of our defenders were killed in the battle and seven were wounded. Four of the soldiers led by the subordinates were killed in the battle and twelve were wounded. All of them were not seriously injured. Came here to revive you! "
Wu Sangui lowered his eyebrows and without even looking at Duan Xiao, he just asked softly: "Are there any casualties among the brothers in the Shenji Battalion?"
"Back to the Commander-in-Chief, the brothers from Shenji Camp also fought bravely to kill slaves and killed several slave thieves, but no one was killed and only three were slightly injured."
"Go down."
Although Duan Xiao was able to speak, he described the Shenji battalion gunners' running around as heroic killings of slaves, and killed several slave thieves in return, but only slightly injured three people. This was a great achievement.
If it were anyone else, he might be more modest, but Chen Jiugao was not that kind of person. He smiled broadly and said: "I have always taught these guys, our Shenji Camp must not only know how to shoot, but not learn how to fight." The skill of war.
Look, what happened today, if it weren’t for the bravery of my Shenji Ying’erlang, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to wait until General Duan came to the rescue! "
"Hahaha……"
Wu Sangui did not answer, but laughed heartily, and Chen Jiugao also laughed with him with a proud look on his face.
…………
At this time, Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty had already withdrawn from Shimen Mountain and returned to his imperial camp to command the overall situation. On Shimen Mountain, only Azige, the king of Wuying County, led some officers and generals from the Zhengbai Banner of Manchuria to preside over the situation.
Next to him were two Han generals, Geng Zhongming, King of Huaishun, and Gushan'er Zhenma Guangyuan, a Han army officer with a white flag. Such big figures were sitting here, which shows that the Qing Dynasty did not intend to abandon Shimen Mountain.
Azig looked impatient. He looked at the battlefield at the foot of Nanlu Mountain and said disdainfully: "King Khan is really troublesome. Just these Han dogs. If I lead the warriors to charge for a while, I will definitely defeat them. This is what happened." trouble!"
Geng Zhongming glanced at Azig and knew that he was a thoughtless bastard, so he said nothing.
On the other hand, Ma Guangyuan, who was on the side after all, had been in the Qing Dynasty for a long time and had some status in the court. He said: "Your Majesty, this is a big game of chess, and it is actually a move to seek the country. We only need to act according to orders and serve the country." All you have to do is serve your Majesty and die."
Azig's big eyes widened. He looked at Ma Guangyuan for a while and then said: "King Khan has ordered that Shimen Mountain be guarded until dark. Please worry about Ma Gushan and King Huaishun."
At this moment, a spy rushed to report: "Report, West Shimen was violently attacked by the southern army, Jia Lazhangjing Yirza was killed, the battle is fierce, please send reinforcements quickly."
Azig was completely unfazed by this. He opened his mouth and asked, "Ilza is useless. What is Ahuchi doing? What is He Chenggong doing?"
"Ahu Chiniu's slaves came to beg for help. He Chenggongjiala has also been injured and is still commanding the God's Blessing Army to fight."
Geng Zhongming was a little nervous when he heard Azig ask He Chenggong just now. After all, he was his subordinate. If he did not perform well in this battle, it would not be a good thing for the entire Tianyou Army.
When he heard that He Chenggong was injured, he still continued to command the Tianyou Army to defend the defense line, and his heart dropped. What he was worried about was not He Chenggong's safety, but the performance of the Tianyou Army.
Because this is related to his future status and future!
Although he still misses He Chenggong, an old man who has followed him for many years, but with current events being like this, he can only consider his personal future first.
"Then please Prince Huaishun and go to the West Stone Gate, at least before dark, to make sure everything is safe there."
Azig didn't know what Geng Zhongming was thinking at this moment, and he didn't have the time to wonder what Geng Zhongming was thinking, so he directly issued his order.
Although the words were spoken very politely, it was already a military order and Geng Zhongming could not refuse. He could only accept the order with a smile: "Hey. Prince Azige, don't worry. Even if I throw these bones at the West Stone Gate, I will never give up." Will let the Ming army pass."
"Haha. King Huaishun can conquer the southern land of Qilu by himself. Guarding such a small west stone gate is overkill and underqualified!"
Facing his ridicule, Geng Zhongming's anger rose sharply. He was about to retort when he heard Azig say: "King Huaishun, go quickly. There is no room for loss at the West Stone Gate. King Huaishun must also pay attention to safety."
Seeing what Azig said, Geng Zhongming also forgot to talk back. He knew that he could no longer hesitate. After saying goodbye to a few people, he led hundreds of his troops and rushed to the west stone gate.
…………
The East Shimen Valley Road, which originally had high hopes, has also made slow progress.
There is also an artillery team from the Shenji Battalion here. In addition to large rockets, tiger squat cannons, and mortar cannons, there are also several heavy Hongyi cannons.
However, I never thought that although the valley road here was not muddy, it was covered with extremely thick sand. People would not feel anything if they stepped on it, but the four-wheeled artillery cart pulling the Hongyi cannon would get stuck in it once it came up.
Every time, with great effort, I dragged and lifted it out, but after taking a few steps, it fell into the sand pit again.
As a last resort, Tang Tong had no choice but to give up dragging these heavy Hongyi cannons. Even the large rockets, tiger squat cannons, mortar cannons and other firearms were unloaded from the chariot and carried by the sergeants. .
But although the valley road here is relatively gentle, it is wide and narrow, and the Qing army often set up defenses in narrow places.
Moreover, they have been operating for a long time and have transported many huge rocks and trees from the mountains. Even if they are hit by cannons, there will be no serious damage.
Fortunately, the accompanying mortars exerted their power. Under the careful measurement of the Shenji Battalion gunners, the cannonballs fired by the mortars followed the parabola and actually crossed the stone wall and fell into the middle of the defenders behind.
However, it is a pity that these are small mortars and are not equipped with poison bombs and gray bombs for their use. This is the biggest regret of this war!
But it was better than nothing. Although there were no poison bombs and gray bombs to assist in the battle, even so, the defending Tatars and the two Han Tatars were frightened.
They cut through passes and captured passes all the way, and it was not a good time at first.
However, as they advanced further, the Tatar soldiers who began to retreat retreated to the rear defense line. The more they gathered, the further back they became, the more difficult it became to attack.
Just now, Tang Tong received a command from the flag commander of the Chinese Army, asking him to break through the East Shimen defense line within an hour, go to the north side of Shimen Mountain as soon as possible, join Ma Ke's Shanhai Navy, and seize key points on the south bank of the Neryu River.
Tang Tong couldn't help complaining, because he knew that with the current fighting style, it would be difficult to break through the Qing defense line at East Shimen, let alone an hour, even if they fought until dark.
But the military orders were like mountains, and he didn't dare not pay attention. Just as he was thinking about countermeasures, something happened ahead.
It turned out that at some point, dozens of Tatars with white flags, driving hundreds of two Tatar soldiers from the Han army and the Korean army, rushed out from behind the stone wall.
This sudden change suddenly shocked the soldiers of Miyun Town who were attacking. In panic, they turned around and ran for their lives.
The officers and soldiers of Miyun Town were chased by hundreds of Qing troops, but no one had the courage to turn back and fight.
They all lost their armor and lost their souls, and many of them shouted desperately: "Lost, defeated! The Tatars are too fierce, they can't stand it anymore!"
