Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 6

  The sun slowly rose, and the golden sunlight sprinkled on the majestic and towering mountain pass, shining on the desolate and bleak grassland and among the continuous mountains for thousands of miles, driving away the fog and chill of the northern morning, bringing a hint of warmth.

  Xiong Ba arrived at the camp before dawn. Wuyan received the report and immediately came out to greet him, while ordering someone to invite the two nobles. He didn't dare neglect this important minister of the Xianbei people. Last month at Tanhan Mountain, it was precisely with Xiong Ba's help that Han Lin had easily defeated the forces of Luo Luojun and his followers without much trouble. Han Lin showed great favor towards him and tried to persuade him to stay in Tanhan Mountain, but Xiong Ba returned to Murong Feng's side nonetheless.

  Xiong Ba sat in Wuyan's large tent, opening a very large cowhide map, spread out on the ground. Wuyan and Quanji Sulie surrounded him.

  "Your Majesty, the two gentlemen are looking at this, it is the Ludong Pass." Xiong Ba smiled and pressed his right hand on the map, moving it back and forth.

  "When the Han people first built this fortress, they put a lot of thought into it. The entire fortress is a large 'day' character-shaped defense system. Even if the first line of defense is breached, there is still a second line of defense that can be used. Defending such a large fortress requires troops, but now they only have two battalions with 1,600 men. It's likely that the Han people haven't been attacked by us for a long time and have forgotten about us."

  "General Dai thinks that a direct attack on the Lu Long Pass would result in huge losses and not be worth it. He suggests making a feint at the front of the pass while attacking its flank with our main force, first breaking through one point and disrupting the enemy's defensive line. Once the Han people lose their wing protection, their frontal defense will inevitably increase pressure. At that time, they can only withdraw troops to retake the wing. And we take advantage of the Han people being unable to take care of both ends at the same time, concentrate our main force and give them a heavy blow on the front. Once their defense collapses, Lu Long Pass is ours."

  "Can adults explain it carefully?" Wu Yan said immediately.

  "The Great Wall of China's first line of defense is extremely formidable. Its front wall is high, wide and thick, with two wing walls built on the mountain, making it easy to defend but hard to attack. Especially its wing walls play a crucial role in protecting and strengthening the entire fortress. When the front defense of the fortress is in crisis, its two wings can immediately provide support troops. The terrain of the wing wall is higher than that of the main wall, and the attacking troops are just within its effective range. However, every advantage has its disadvantage. Once the wing wall is lost, it will be a huge threat to the defense of the main city wall, and all favorable conditions will become unfavorable."

  To reduce the resistance of a frontal assault, it is necessary to solve its auxiliary walls, Yunlou and Meilou. The terrain of Meilou on the left wing of the fortress is lower than that of Yunlou on the right wing. When we launched a feint attack on the main wall, we attacked Meilou on the left wing with our main force. The Han people defended against our frontal attack while not daring to give up their own left wing, and they had no choice but to send out reserve troops under duress. We then consumed all of his reserve forces on Meilou. At this time, we suddenly launched a main attack on Yunlou, which was the highest terrain. Without support, Yunlou would inevitably be taken down by us at once.

  "The Han people have lost Yunlou, and the right wing of the garrison will be completely exposed to our archery range. At this time, we will attack the main wall on the right with all our might. The first line of defense at Lulong Pass will immediately collapse. Without the first line of defense, the enemy, who has suffered a significant blow to their numbers and morale, how long can they hold out in Lulong Tower?"

  "So, the feint attack must grasp the number of attacks and interval time well. It should make the Han people think that this is the main direction of attack, but also make them feel that they can still hold on without needing to prepare reserve troops for support. The troops attacking Mei Lou must fight fiercely and intensely, consuming a large number of Han soldiers, making the Han people mistakenly believe that we want to break through from there. Remember, the key is not to occupy Mei Lou, but to force the enemy to bring all their reserve troops up to Mei Lou, delivering them to us for consumption."

  "Suli shouted: 'Xiong Ba, are you trying to make me go all out?'"

  "Fatso, you've come with a lot of people this time. Don't think I don't know. If I pluck out a few of your hairs, what would you do? Your troops are stationed on the left wing of our fortress, and as one of the bravest warriors of our Xianbei tribe, it's only fitting that you lead the charge. Attacking a small Mei Tower, isn't that beneath your abilities?" Xiong Ba said with a smile.

  Su Li didn't make a sound, her face slightly unpleasant.

  "Don't worry, there won't be more than two hundred enemies on Mei Lou, your losses aren't as great as you imagine?" Xiong Ba consoled him, seeing that he was not pleased in his heart.

  Su Li's eyebrows immediately relaxed upon hearing this, "You didn't deceive me?"

  Xiong Ba shook his head, "I'm not deceiving you." Then he cupped one hand in the other and politely said, "Everything will be decided by Khan Lu Wang."

  Wu Yan glanced at the three of them and thought to himself: You three are still sitting here listening to me? What a joke. He cursed silently in his heart, but responded loudly: "Where's the need for that, I'll follow General Ma's lead. Everything will be decided by General Ma."

  Qian Ji and Su Li exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves: This kid is quite sensible.

  Tian Jing stood on the city wall, gazing at the distant Huren army's camp, his face solemn.

  Behind him stood two armored officers. The tall and thin middle-aged man on the left was named Wang Jin, and the sturdy middle-aged man on the right was named Chai Ting. They were the military Sima of the Lu Long Sai border army. Generally speaking, a military Sima can lead at most one battalion of 600 people. However, the Great Han Empire has a special organization for its border armies, with one battalion consisting of two qu (companies) and 800 people. As for the Duwei and Xiaowei, it depends on the situation, and they may lead several battalions of soldiers. According to convention, two battalions form a regiment, and two regiments form an army. In Lu Long Sai, the Fenwu Xiaowei Tian Jing led one regiment of soldiers stationed at the border pass.

  Tian Jing deployed five thousand troops on the front battlefield, with one thousand men and horses, fully equipped with all defensive equipment, preparing for a bloody battle to the end. On both sides of the auxiliary wall, he arranged one thousand troops each as reinforcements and auxiliary defense. He only left one thousand troops as reserve forces, while some horsemen, partners, and civil servants were left to guard the Lulong Tower and watch over the New Moon Tower. With limited troops in his hands, facing the enemy's attack of eight thousand strong, he also felt constrained and unable to cope.

  Wang Jin and Chai Ting were both seasoned veterans, silently following Tian Jing from behind, gazing at the vast Hu tribe allied army camp stretching across the grasslands beyond the pass, their hearts heavy with foreboding.

  Yesterday, Kuaiji set out and sent a request for help to Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, and Liu Zheng, the governor of the Right Beiping Prefecture. Tian Jing was clear-headed, with the current troops, it would not be a problem to hold on for ten days or half a month, but if the time were longer, it would be difficult to say. If the reinforcements from the two lords cannot arrive within half a month, the possibility of losing Lulong Pass is still very high.

  "Sir, the logistics supply troops of the Wudang and Xianbei people have all arrived this morning, with several thousand people, escorting a large amount of fodder and supplies to be stationed behind the barbarian's main camp. The barbarians seem determined this time, it looks like they're going all out." King Jin said lightly, his brow slightly furrowed.

  "These barbarians haven't launched such a large-scale invasion in many years. I reckon they're itchy, wanting to scratch." Chai Ting said with hatred.

  "Are there any cavalry among the thousands of reinforcements arriving?" Tian Jing asked after observing from the city wall for a while, as he had gone to the Lu Long Tower due to urgent matters and hadn't seen the enemy's logistics reinforcement troops arrive at Lu Long Pass. He asked with some unease.

  "No. From a distance, they all look like ox carts and horse carts, probably all old men, women and children of the barbarian tribe."

  Tian Jing turned around, looking at them with a solemn expression: "This time the barbarians have come prepared, their momentum is surging, and their initial attack will certainly be fierce. Tell the soldiers to hold out at all costs and resolutely withstand the barbarians' offensive, heavily striking down these barbarians' arrogant airs. Let's see whose big knives and long spears are sharper, or whether our copper walls and iron fortresses are more powerful."

  Li Hong had been watching from early morning as many Xianbei soldiers ran to the top of Mei Mountain, looking left and right, then gathered together pointing at Mei Tower. By mid-morning, the Xianbei soldiers began digging earth and filling bags in a location outside the range of the Han army's long arrows, then stacking them nearby. Li Hong felt something was off and immediately called for Cheng Jie.

  Cheng Jie sat on the city wall, looked for a while, and asked Li Hong: "Heizi, is something wrong?"

  Jing was extremely robust, even more so than Li Hong, and not very tall, with a whiskered face. Li Hong looked at him and expressed the doubts in his mind.

  "What can the Xianbei people do with earth bags? They can only be used to fill in some place. The main city wall is five zhang high, and even if the Xianbei people dig soil and put it in bags for a month, they won't be able to fill up to that height. Our city walls are built on the mountain, following the terrain upwards, and are no more than three zhang high. If the enemy starts from halfway up the mountain and sticks close to the base of the wall, using earth bags to build a platform, then they will have a place to put their cloud ladders, and can use them to attack us."

  Cheng Jie thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "Don't think nonsense, only a madman would think of attacking the city wall from the mountain. The terrain on the mountain is steep, not only can't stand firm, but also it's very difficult to replenish troops and equipment. Don't think that those barbarians are all stupid, they are very cunning. Even if there was a place where they could set up their cloud ladders, how many men would they need to send in order to climb up? It's impossible."

  "But we only have 260 men, spread out over an 80-step-long city wall. Not only are our forces dispersed and unable to launch an effective counterattack, but once the enemy breaks through, it will be a disaster for the soldiers defending the main city wall." Li Hong felt that his idea had some merit, and he tried his best to persuade Cheng Jie.

  "There's no one left, you know? There's no one left." Cheng knew that if there was an abnormal situation, he would definitely have to report it, but what was the purpose of reporting it? It was just to get someone.

  Cheng Jie saw Li Hong's face looking difficult, and comforted him: "I'll go report, it's okay. You continue to stare here." After finishing speaking, he ran up the mountain along the city wall. Yun Lou was just on this small mountain top.

  Zun Chang Zhou Huan was very serious, and brought two people to run down quickly. Zhou Huan was a typical northern Han man, tall and sturdy, with a thick beard. After listening to Li Hong's explanation, he looked at the enemy soldiers busy on the mountain, grasped his beard with both hands, thought for half a day, and said two words: "Look again."

  At noon, General Wu Fei walked over with his entourage. Zhou Huan hurried to greet him and took the opportunity to mention what he had discovered that morning. Wu Fei was extremely surprised and hastily went to the area where the scouts were defending. After listening to Li Hong's explanation, he patted Li Hong's shoulder forcefully and praised him: "Not bad, you have vision." He then turned around and loudly instructed his entourage: "Immediately report to General Wang, quickly!" The entourage ran off like flying.

  Wu Fei, over thirty years old, with a short mustache and two bright eyes that always seemed to be smiling. He looked at Zhou Huan and Cheng Jie, pointing at Li Hong and said: "This kid is very clever, smarter than you two." Then he left Li Hong's proud face behind, leading Zhou Huan and Cheng Jie further up the mountain.

  Lunch had just finished, and Li Hong immediately discovered that something was wrong. He found that the number of Xianbei soldiers on the mountain suddenly increased. The earthbags piled up like a small hill had been divided into dozens of small piles by more soldiers, scattered halfway up the mountain. Cheng Jie walked over and also discovered the anomaly. He said strangely: "What do these barbarians want to do?"

  "It's time to attack." Li Hong said calmly.

  Suddenly, a loud horn sounded from the Huihe allied army's camp. The long and low sound suddenly tore through the calm sky of Lulong Pass.

  Hundreds of bugles sounded one after another in various corners of the camp, countless war flags fluttered back and forth within the camp, soldiers poured out of their tents, and converged on their respective flags in a tense and orderly manner.

  The soldiers on the city wall of Lulong Pass stood up one after another, looking towards the Hu tribe's allied army camp. The busy soldiers who were loading various weapons in the fortress square stopped their hands and looked up at the city wall.

  Tian Jing, standing on the city wall, had changed into a suit of armor, black armor, black helmet, and black steel gun. He looked at the Huns' army that was already ready to move out and waved his hand back. The messenger behind him made a gesture to the flag bearer standing on the inner wall.

  A fierce drumbeat suddenly sounded in the sky above Lulong Pass.

  The clarion call of war has sounded, the drums of battle have been beaten, and the curtain of the final battle is about to be lifted.

  The soldiers on this side of the Mei Building looked at the Huihe Allied Army's camp movement, and then looked at their own main city wall, with a very tense expression. The vast majority of Lu Long Pass soldiers had never participated in a real war, they tightly held their weapons, slightly opening their mouths, and their hearts were beating violently.

  Li Hong looked at their expressions and couldn't help but think of the scene when he first participated in a battle on Horse's Mouth Slope two months ago. At that time, he was also very nervous and panting heavily. Li Hong involuntarily thought of Commander Murong Feng. He seemed to be afraid of being discovered, with a hint of guilt, and looked up towards the forest.

  Li Hong's eyes suddenly widened and he let out a thunderous roar: "Shield up!"