Chapter Nineteen: The Battle of Liangshan Pass

  The news of Si Nan's movement was quickly spread to Geheyan and Baiyadong. Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang were shocked, and immediately sent Dai Zi to request support from Da Tian Qianhu. Ruan Zhihuan was worried that his financial route would be cut off, and threatened Si Nan with military force, ordering them not to attack the Han people. As for sending troops to assist, it was flatly rejected by Ruan Zhihuan. Ruan Zhihuan believed that Si Nan did not dare to attack his military household, and he knew the military situation of Da Tian's military household best. Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang also did not expect Da Tian to take care of everything, but just threatening Si Nan was enough. So, when summer arrived, Zhou Wang and Lin Chunhong used the excuse that it was not suitable for logging in the summer to safely send away all the people except for the military household and combat personnel to transport wood rafts, and then let them build a port at Baili Zhou. Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang took the combat personnel as the backbone, organized the military household, and conducted training. Although these military households had long since become farmers, their identity made them fearless of the barbarians' attack, which allowed Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang to put their minds at ease. The two also actively contacted Baiyadong to strive for coordinated action.

  Since the logging started in Baiyadong, an ordinary tree could be sold for three or four silver coins at Qingjiangkou. With the sale of medicinal materials and cured meat, the amount of silver coins in the hands of the barbarians in Baiyadong gradually increased. The entry of fine porcelain and silk into Baiyadong made some elders overjoyed, feeling that their living standards had taken a big step forward. The only thing that annoyed them was that Peng Xin's reputation continued to rise with this opportunity, and he also owned the identity of the only contact person with the Han people, making many elders suspect that Peng Xin had swallowed a lot of silver coins. Although Peng Xin successfully subdued several younger brothers among the elders, he couldn't withstand the fact that the other side had more people, and both sides were openly and secretly fighting, with a strong smell of gunpowder. When the news of the attack by the Sichuan authorities arrived in Baiyadong, the elders found Peng Xin's weakness and blamed him for provoking Sichuan at the beginning, now the tribe was facing a disaster that threatened their very existence.

  Tribe leader Peng Jian is also dissatisfied with Peng Xin, although he too gained a lot of profit from the transaction, but he has always suspected that Peng Xin took the lion's share and now scolds him as the root of all troubles. It's easier to blame others than to take action yourself.

  Peng Xin was still seething with anger, didn't these dimwits know that he had brought them a powerful ally? Couldn't they see that they were all wearing silk and using fine porcelain now? Even ironware had increased, and arrowheads had been replaced with iron ones! But Peng Xin was a man who dared to take on responsibilities, although facing the accusations of the crowd, he didn't retort back, only thinking about what to do next. After all, since the position of tribe leader would eventually be his, he had to think for his own people, and it wasn't worth arguing with these foolish guys.

  Peng Xin only mentioned one thing: the Han people of Geheyan and the Datian thousand households have a close relationship, now they can only ask for help from the Han people! As for the execution, apart from himself, no one else can do it. When Peng Xin arrived at Geheyan, Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang were preparing to contact him, and the two sides reached an agreement immediately, deciding that Baiyadong would send out 600 strong men to deal with the people of Sinan together. The leader of the strong men from Baiyadong was naturally Peng Xin, and the old man and Peng had a consistent idea: whoever caused the trouble should solve it himself.

  Without mentioning the preparations of the troops at Baiyadong and Gehouyan, Yang Qingxiong led a thousand men out after receiving the order. When they reached halfway, he received an order from Yang Chengwan: only attack Baiyadong, do not offend the military households of Gehouyan! Only then did Yang Qing realize that the Han people in Gehouyan were the military households of Datian, and he couldn't help but take a cold breath, silently scolding Yang Chengwan for his sinister plot, trapping himself and Yang Siwan in a difficult situation. But since the arrow has been shot, there is no turning back, so he had to lead the troops to Baiyadong with a hard heart. Yang Qing secretly thought: if we can eliminate Baiyadong, Yang Chengwan's conspiracy will not come true. Baiyadong? That's an easy victory!

  Yang Qing's fleet arrived at the mouth of the Clear River and abandoned their ships to go ashore. At the mouth of the Clear River, Yang Qing saw a mountain of wood piled up and couldn't help but gasp in surprise, thinking that this much wood must be worth a lot of money. He had an urge to set fire to it, satisfying his desire for destruction, but when he found out that it was Han people's property, he had to give up. His subordinates heard that the White Cliff Cave had obtained a lot of silver by cutting down trees and were filled with envy. From envy to hatred, after landing, under Yang Qing's leadership, they rushed towards the White Cliff Cave.

  "Alright men, after crossing the two mountain passes, we'll be close to Baiyadong Cave. Let's set up camp at the two mountain passes today!" Yang Qing commanded, pointing his large knife in the direction of the two mountain passes. The two mountain passes, as the name suggests, refer to the pass between the two mountains, which are Yue'er Mountain and Tiger Mountain. Inside the pass, there is a small river that flows through it, which is the only way to get to Baiyadong Cave and also the route that Lin Chunhong takes to transport wood. Yang Qing thought to himself that as long as the people from Baiyadong Cave didn't plan on running away, this place would definitely have someone guarding it, so he prepared to set up camp near the two mountain passes. The scouts had already been sent out to investigate the situation around the two mountain passes.

  "It's said that Baiyadong has recently been doing business with the Hans and has a lot more silver in his hands. If only we could also do business with the Hans." A strong young man said with a smack of his lips.

  Everyone responded to this, and they all thought it should be so. Yang Qing heard about it and smiled: "Even if we do business, we have to go up the mountain to pick medicine, and cut down trees, it's better to just rob Baijue Cave directly."

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Yang Qing took the opportunity to boost morale: "Destroy Baili Cave, women can be chosen at will, as for wealth... whoever gets it is theirs."

  The crowd shouted in unison: "Exterminate Baiyadong! Exterminate Baiyadong!"

  Yang Qing turned back to look at the dense forest of knives and guns waving non-stop, and couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. This morale was like breaking into a white cliff cave to fetch something. As for Yang Chengwan, he wasn't stingy either, using all the resources in the clan to equip a thousand people with the best bows, arrows, knives, and guns in their hearts, only lacking armor, with just a few leaders wearing cotton armor.

  "...Report..." A sturdy young man crawled to the front of Yang Qing, panting. "There are people from Baiyan Cave stationed at Liangshan Pass, I've already found a place called Chiri Ping, suitable for a thousand people to camp!" This sturdy young man was named Yang Da, and he was Yang Qing's house slave. Yang Qing saw that this young man was clever and ordered him to investigate the news.

  "How many people?"

  "The little ones don't dare come close, I don't know how many people there are."

  Yang Qing stopped asking and ordered the crowd: "Set up camp at Red Sun Ping! Yang Da, lead the way!"

  Yang Qing rested for a night after setting up camp at Chi Ri Ping, and the next morning, he led 800 men to make a loud noise and head towards Bai Ya Dong's campsite to launch an attack. However, when they arrived at Bai Ya Dong's campsite, Yang Qing was shocked: the campsite was set up by a small river and guarded the vital passage. The campsite was about 600 feet wide, with a gate in front of the wall, and watchtowers were built at the four corners, each with strong men patrolling on top. Yang Qing's arrival had already alerted the strong men inside, and the drumbeats echoed through the sky. The 10-foot-high wall was filled with strong men staring fiercely at Yang Qing's troops. The wall was made of giant wooden stakes, and from the standing strong men, it could be inferred that there should be another row of giant wooden stakes behind, covered with wooden boards, allowing the strong men to stand stably on top of the wall. Outside the wall, deer horns were inserted everywhere, and outside the deer horns, there were two trenches. The area hundreds of feet away from the wall was barren, obviously having been treated by the people of Bai Ya Dong to facilitate the discovery of enemies approaching from a distance. This was the masterpiece guided by Zhou Wang for Bai Ya Dong, which made Lin Chunhong stunned: he also couldn't think of how to break through this wall with Si Nan's attack method.

  Yang Qing is now in a dilemma, advancing would definitely result in heavy casualties, retreating would also dampen the morale of the soldiers. After watching the camp for a long time, he couldn't think of any solution. The silence on the battlefield made his subordinates cast their eyes towards Yang Qing, making him feel even more anxious. Yang Da couldn't help but say: "Bookkeeper, since we've come this far, let's charge forward, we can't just go back like this."

  Yang Qing steeled himself, cleared his throat and shouted: "You boys, have you seen? Baiyuan Cave has shrunk into a turtle! As long as we occupy this stronghold, they'll be powerless. All the women will belong to us!"

  The boys were originally hesitant about how to occupy this stronghold, but now they heard Yang Qing talk about the issue of women's ownership, and their male hormones immediately overflowed, and their courage doubled, shouting: "Women belong to us! Women belong to us!"

  "Everyone, charge! Attack the camp and kill all the men!"

  But such an impact was certainly ineffective, and the sons had not yet reached the trenches before being shot back by random arrows. Yang Qing took advantage of this to withdraw his troops back to camp. After returning to camp, he ordered the production of siege equipment, such as cloud ladders and wooden shields. After the production of siege equipment, they attacked several more times, each time without success. Indeed, no one had ever seen a camp like this before, let alone talk about taking it. In Yang Qing's position, he was also anxious, unable to apply for withdrawal from Yang Chengwan, and unable to advance, truly at a loss for what to do.

  One day, Yang Da came up with a plan to smoke the people in Baiyao Cave to death with thick smoke, which made Yang Qing extremely excited. Now it was summer, and the southeast wind was blowing frequently, while the camp of Baiyao Cave was just at the mouth of two mountains, very suitable for smoking and burning. Thinking and doing, Yang Qing immediately led his sons to the enemy's camp, implementing his great plan of releasing smoke and fire.

  Lin Chun-hong, Zhou Wang and Peng Xin stood on the wall of the stockade, watching as the sons of Si Nan piled up withered branches and leaves into a high heap, like a small hill. The three piles of firewood were obvious in their intention to smoke them out. Zhou Wang looked at the busy sons of Si Nan, who were scurrying about like ants, and said disdainfully: "Can they fight? Can they speak of defending? Does Si Nan really think we won't launch a surprise attack? Assemble the vanguard and archer troops!"

  The sons of Si Nan thought that they could smoke the coward out of the White Cliff Cave, and their footsteps were light and quick, as if they were walking on clouds. The women of White Cliff Cave seemed to be beckoning them, and the silver in the cave was shining brightly, waiting for them to take it. However, just at this moment, the drumbeat suddenly sounded from within the White Cliff Cave camp, and the drawbridge was lowered, with about three hundred people emerging in a line, forming an array at the gate. It was Zhou Wang leading his troops, preparing to launch a surprise attack. This team of soldiers were all wearing cotton armor, their knives and guns shining brightly. Yang Qing looked back at his own team and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed, as almost no one in his team was wearing armor. Yang Qing immediately ordered the sons to stop collecting firewood and form up to meet the enemy. Yang Qing thought: There were only over three hundred people, even if they were piled up like humans, they would still be killed. The team slowly advanced, maintaining their formation as they moved forward, their helmets and armor making a clattering sound. This slow-moving array was exerting pressure on Yang Qing, making him feel as though his heart was beating in time with the clattering sound, leaving him breathless.

  Yang Qing waved his hand and ordered: "Archers, come forward and shoot these sons of bitches dead!"

  Then the archers rushed forward, shooting arrows at the enemy formation in a disorderly manner. Zhou Wang saw the enemy move and shouted loudly: "Squat down, shield cover!" Everyone under Zhou Wang's concise command squatted down uniformly, using their shields to cover their bodies, just like they had trained before. Although some of these people were so nervous that they trembled, their long training allowed them to complete tactical movements reflexively after hearing the order, and they feared that their coverage was not complete and would be injured by enemy arrows. All that could be heard was a series of "ding" sounds, as the enemy's arrows hit the shields, making a sound that made people grit their teeth, causing those under the shields to become increasingly tense. Fortunately, the other side did not have strong bows, and only a few people on this side were shot with arrows, but they were not injured in critical areas, constantly letting out mournful cries.

  At this time, Lin Chunhong led more than a hundred archers to form up behind Zhou Wang's array. These hundred or so archers were the best marksmen selected from Bai Ya Cave, and they did not wear armor, each holding a stone bow. When they heard Lin Chunhong's order: "Target enemy array, shoot!" They all drew their bows and shot arrows at an angle upwards. After a moment, Lin Chunhong shouted again: "Target enemy array, shoot!" Another wave of arrow rain fell on Si Nan's head.

  Yang Qing's archers were exposed and at the forefront, making them the main target of the projectiles. Under several rounds of arrow fire, they suffered heavy casualties. All the archers shouted in unison, stopped shooting, and turned to flee. Yang Qing took one look, his eyes wide with rage, and ordered: "Men, follow me! Let's wipe out these dogs!" With that, he charged forward first, followed by a swarm of men armed with swords and spears, who let out a deafening battle cry.

  Zhou Wang immediately gave the order: "Three-man team, charge!" Suddenly, over 300 people sprang up and shot out like arrows. In the process of charging, they automatically formed three-man teams, each holding long and short weapons and shields, shouting as they charged forward. The two surging currents collided violently, splashing out a burst of blood flowers.

  Lin Chunhong and Yang Qing's men rushed out, ordering: "Fire at will!" The archers then each found their own targets, waiting for the opportunity to release the fatal arrow. Yang Qing, holding a long spear, became the focus of attention, and soon Yang Qing was shot in the arm.

  Yang Qing's men had not yet put on their armor, and they rushed up again. How could they be the opponents of Zhou Wang's 300 elite soldiers? Before long, they couldn't withstand Zhou Wang's impact and retreated in disorder. With the occasional flying arrows, they were even more frightened and accelerated their retreat. Now seeing Yang Qing being shot by an arrow, they didn't hesitate anymore, and the momentum of their defeat could not be stopped.

  Zhou Wang and others chased out for two miles, then retreated back to camp. Yang Qing, under the protection of his personal guards, ran all the way back to the camp, shut the gate and refused to come out. After taking stock of their numbers, they found that only over 500 men were left, especially the archers, who had suffered heavy casualties. This made Yang Qing extremely angry, so he ordered someone to report to Yang Chengwan, saying: "We encountered Baiyadong, our sons fought bravely and Baiyadong retreated in defeat. Later, due to the sudden attack from behind by the Han people at Geheyan, we were unable to hold them off, and our sons suffered over 200 casualties."