Sixty-one, Attacking the Mountain

  That night, the officers and soldiers set up camp at the foot of the cliff. In ancient times, when an army set up camp, there were many considerations, such as having a water source, having a grain supply route, and usually setting up camp in a location with convenient transportation near mountains and rivers. However, since the government troops had won and the bandits had lost, and this group of government troops only had over 500 people, they didn't need a grain supply route because they carried their own food, and the water source was sufficient with a small stream nearby, so Yang Hong didn't bother with these considerations and set up camp on the spot.

  The center of the camp was Yang Hong's tent, and Qiu Ye was assigned a small tent next to the commander's tent. The tents of the hundred officials surrounded the commander's tent in a circle, and then the outer layer was the soldiers' tents. These tents were all facing outward to prevent enemy raids on the camp. Outside the tents, the soldiers nailed up a simple fence wall or cut down nearby trees, crossed two branches, tied them together with ropes, and placed this cross-shaped branch around the camp in a circle.

  Zhu Yuanzhang took a closer look and found that Yang Hong's camp was still decent. Although the discipline and morale of the government soldiers were very poor, the skills of setting up camps that had been passed down for hundreds of years had not declined, and such a camp would be difficult to attack at night even for an experienced general. With Zheng Yanfu's ability to march and fight on the mountain top, it was impossible to attack the government soldiers' camp.

  Wang Er stared with wide eyes and watched carefully, muttering to himself: "So that's how you set up camp... Yesterday evening we followed the soldiers to rest, but they didn't set up such a neat camp."

  "Hmm, yesterday's camp was just a marching camp!" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Today this is a battlefield camp."

  Wang Er was a little puzzled again, and asked in a low voice: "Zhu Ba brother... cough... Zhu Ba Ge, the government troops have already won a great victory today. Tomorrow, as long as they make one more effort to attack the mountain stronghold and defeat Zheng Yanfu's men, why do they still need to set up such a neat camp?"

  "No matter how big the advantage is, it may be lost overnight." Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice: "The army fears night attacks because soldiers are already very tense when marching and fighting, and at night they often fall asleep with great tension. A slight rustling of leaves can easily make soldiers panic, and if they encounter a night attack, they often cannot withstand it, running around in all directions, and an army of 100,000 may be completely routed by a few thousand enemy troops in a night attack. Therefore, we need to set up a safe camp, take turns sending soldiers to keep watch at night, and if the enemy comes for a night attack, rely on the solid camp to block the enemy for a short while, and the general can use this brief moment to calm down the soldiers to meet the enemy."

  Wang Er attended another class and couldn't help but admire Zhu Ba more.

  That night, the two found a tree nest, piled up leaves, and hid their bodies in the leaf pile, which was also warm. Zhu Yuanzhang fell asleep soon, but Wang Er was so excited that he couldn't sleep at all. For an ordinary person like him, witnessing a real war with his own eyes was already a rare experience. Moreover, having Zhu Yuanzhang by his side to explain the battle array made him learn a lot from this observation.

  That night, Wang Er kept thinking about every detail of the battle, comparing them with what Zhu Yuanzhang had said, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that: Brother Zhu was really awesome!

  The next morning, Zhu Yuanzhang's biological clock woke him up as accurately as a clock. He stretched his limbs and saw Wang Er staring at the sky with a pair of dark eye circles, muttering to himself: "So this is how it is...hmm...I understand..."

  "Hmm? What were you thinking about all night without sleep?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked curiously.

  Wang Er rubbed his head awkwardly: "I thought about the battle all night, and as soon as I closed my eyes, my mind was filled with soldiers wielding various weapons... Ah, Zhu Ba Ge, you can actually sleep, after watching such a big battle, how come you're not excited at all?"

  "There's nothing to be excited about." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "Even if the total number of people is less than a thousand, I can still sleep well even if it were in the tens of millions."

  Wang Er: "......"

  Two men emerged from the pile of leaves, brushing off the leaves that were stuck to their bodies, and gazed towards the camp of government soldiers. They saw that the soldiers had already risen and begun preparing to ascend the mountain. Troop after troop of soldiers came out of the camp, lining up on the mountain path at the foot of the cliff. Yang Hong and several hundred officials stood at the foot of the mountain, with a military band beside them, surrounded by dozens of personal guards. Yang Hong was pointing and gesturing towards the top of the mountain.

  Looking back at the top of the mountain, the bandits were hiding behind the rocks, only exposing a few heads to explore. On the top of the cliff, there were dozens of bandits with hunting bows in their hands, and their faces no longer had the self-satisfied expression as yesterday. Looking at the government soldiers below, fear was revealed in their eyes. Obviously, they had tasted the ferocity of the government soldiers yesterday and did not dare to be arrogant today.

  Wang Er became nervous again: "Zhu Ba Ge, will Zheng Yanfu's gang be finished today? Alas! I don't want them to lose the battle. Honestly, I've been hoping in my heart that Zheng Yanfu could defeat the government troops..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang patted Wang Er's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, today the government troops will be defeated."

  "Why?" Wang Er was puzzled: "The combat effectiveness of the government soldiers is so strong, how can Zheng Yanfu and his men win?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly: "I won't tell you the reason for now, read it and analyze it yourself."

  At this time, Yang Hong under the cliff raised his hand, a cold light flashing treasure sword pointed to the top of the cliff, the military band began to beat the drum.

  Rumble, rumble

  Under the sound of drums, the officers and soldiers began to attack the mountain.

  The mountain path is not wide, and at the beginning, only seven or eight people can stand side by side. As you walk up, it becomes narrower and narrower, and only four or five people can stand side by side. There are several dangerous places where only two or three people can stand side by side. The government soldiers could only form a long snake-like formation, charging forward on the mountain path.

  The soldiers running in the front were extremely afraid of death, using all their strength to hold up their shields, and their entire bodies were shrunk behind the shields. In such a posture, it was obviously impossible to run fast, and the whole team moved forward on the mountain path like turtles, climbing up little by little.

  Zheng Yanfu's figure appeared on the cliff top, shouting loudly: "Smash!"

  A group of people immediately emerged from the mountain cliff beside him, each holding a stone in their hand. The stones were large and small, round and square, depending on each person's strength, some weighing tens of kilograms, others only a few kilograms, the smallest being the size of a fist, the bandits shouted in unison, and the stones came crashing down.

  The mountain path was suddenly covered with rolling rocks, as if a rain of stones had fallen.

  Small stones falling down were nothing, hitting the shield and making a "peng" sound after bouncing off, but big rocks were a bit scary, especially those weighing dozens of kilograms, carrying enormous force from high altitude, hitting the shield would knock over both the soldier holding it and the shield to the ground. Moreover, after knocking one person down, they wouldn't stop, continuing to roll downwards, frightening the officers and soldiers on the mountain path into wailing and screaming.

  Some of the banner soldiers and small flag soldiers in the team shouted: "Rush, run to the top of the mountain, and don't be afraid of rolling stones..."

  But their shouts were drowned out by the cries and screams of the government soldiers, and they couldn't effectively reach the ears of the soldiers. The government soldiers were crowded on the mountain path, huddled together in a ball, some archers shot arrows towards the top of the mountain, but shooting upwards from below, both range and power could not be guaranteed, only a few experienced old soldiers could hit the bandits, most archers couldn't accurately hit their targets.

  Knocking down a few bandits would not make any difference, and more bandits moved rocks to throw them down randomly. After a while, the top of the mountain actually threw down several logs again. The logs were much more terrifying than rolling stones. They were cylindrical in shape, made from complete tree trunks, with branches removed, thirty feet long, and over two feet in diameter. As they rolled down the mountain path, they bounced and crashed continuously, making a loud rumbling sound. Due to their length, they covered the entire mountain path, rolling down from above with an intimidating presence. Rolling stones were smaller in volume and not round, so after rolling for a while, they would stop due to exhaustion of force. However, logs could roll from the top of the mountain all the way to the foot, smashing everything they encountered along the way.

  Several officers and soldiers were hit first, crushed by wooden beams with their brains bursting out.

  The soldiers behind were frightened and scattered, dodging in all directions, causing the already narrow mountain path to become chaotic. The bandits on the mountaintop threw down a barrage of rocks again, and before Yang Hong could sound the retreat, the soldiers had already retreated down the mountain with a loud shout. Yang Hong was furious, angrily cursing: "A bunch of cowards! You haven't even received the order to retreat, what are you retreating for?" His roar was completely useless, not to mention that on the chaotic battlefield, the soldiers couldn't hear him anyway, and even if they did, they wouldn't obey.

  At the end of the Ming dynasty, military discipline was corrupt, and many soldiers had developed strange temperaments. As long as they felt that this battle might not be won, they would choose to retreat on their own, regardless of how loudly the officers shouted orders.

  Yang Hong was so angry that he slammed his treasured sword onto the ground.

  Zhu Yuanzhang turned to Wang Er beside him and asked, "Do you understand? Why did the government troops lose today?"

  Seeing the bandits win, Wang Er was still quite happy. He had firmly stood on the side of the peasant uprising army from the beginning and nodded towards Zhu Yuanzhang, saying in a low voice: "I roughly understand that yesterday it was Zheng Yanfu's group attacking, and the government troops were actually on the defensive. The morale was slightly poor, but it wasn't a big problem, so the government troops won. However, due to insufficient morale, the double-winged flying formation couldn't be completed later. Today, the government troops took the offensive, but their morale and combat spirit were not high. When attacking the mountain, they were slow and hesitant, making it impossible to quickly climb to the top... The slower they attacked the mountain, the more they would be hit by rocks and logs rolling down from the top, so defeat was inevitable."

  "Ah, that's right!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "You say you're foolish, but I think you're quite clever, it's easy to understand at a glance."

  "Wang Er sighed and said: 'You can guess the outcome before you start fighting, but I'm guessing the reason after seeing the result. Compared to you, I'm far inferior.'"

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, knowing that Wang Er had thoroughly surrendered to him. If previously Wang Er helped him only because he was moved by his emotional tactics or strategies, then this time it was truly due to being convinced by his strength. This is a different concept, which will bring about completely different results: "Wang Er brothers, come guess again, who wins and loses tomorrow?"