Volume 1 Nightfall Border City Chapter 67 Attacking the Stronghold (Part 2)

  Che Feng and a dozen riders galloped all night. When had it been, the area near Guihua City was once the most prosperous place in southern Mongolia, but now after running for a whole night, not a single person could be seen.

  The next day at noon, Che Feng finally saw a group of Tumet herders near Liang City.

  The grasslands were still in a state of war, and there were some Chahar herders left behind by Lindan Khan in the mountains. The Tumet people did not dare to graze alone. The situation had reversed, and a small number of Chahars who were hastily abandoned by their tribes escaped into the borders of the Ming Dynasty, while others wandered on the grasslands and became horse thieves.

  Along the way, no traces of Chahar cavalry were found, and Che Feng's mood eased slightly. He urged his horse to rush into a gathering place for herdsmen and loudly asked: "Where is Princess Wulan?"

  "Forty miles from here!"

  The leader of this group of herdsmen is Temur, who knows Che Feng and points out the direction for him.

  The horse galloped away, and the Tumote Mongolians along the way all sang and danced with joy, releasing their pent-up frustrations of many years. Although they also lost a large number of livestock, this year's life has not yet settled down, but the open-minded character of the Mongolian people is just like that.

  The horse rushed forward for half an hour, and met the patrol guards of Gerdai Tu, hurriedly went over to greet them, and told them about the changes in the Han camp.

  "Didn't we fail to find any trace of the Chahar people?" Gedai asked.

  "Not bad, I rushed over overnight, as the village head said, being prepared is better than being unprepared!"

  Ge Rile Tu Luo hesitated for a moment and said, "Follow me, I'll report to the princess right away!" He wanted to take Che Feng and others to go to Wulan Princess's large account.

  "The letter has been sent, so I won't go. Please trouble yourself to exchange our horses. We left in a hurry last night and now we need to go back and take another look." Che Feng and the others had galloped all night, their horses were exhausted.

  "Why so anxious? One night's rush is also very tiring!"

  "I want to go back and take another look!" Che Feng felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

  After a while, more than ten riders exchanged their war horses and rushed back along the road they came from.

  The sky is overcast without rain, and the early summer weather is filled with oppression. As horses gallop, insects dance in the meadow.

  "I wish it would rain!" The driver panted heavily in the stifling air.

  A figure flashed in the distant mountains, but couldn't escape his eyes.

  "Enemy scout!" Che Feng growled in a low voice,

  A dozen cavalrymen formed a fan shape and went around to the direction pointed by Che Feng. By the time Che Feng arrived at the forest, he could only see several blurry knights running in the distance.

  "Good riddance!" Che Feng cursed, it must be the Chahar people. It seems that the suspicion of the Han people was not wrong. The Chahar people did not come to Mowan, where would they go?

  Che Feng's mood became more anxious, but after thinking for a moment, he felt relieved. With the terrain of the Han camp and their vigilance, they would not let the Chahar people get away easily. Fortunately, the Chahar people did not choose to attack the Tumet people as their target.

  Chahar cavalry was likely nearby, and Che Wen changed the route to proceed through the mountains, getting closer to Handai. Che Wen finally discovered the traces left by a large group of Chahar cavalry last night, so there was no need to explore their direction anymore, only one possibility remained.

  In the Han village, Xiao Zhi's face was stern.

  The craftsmen made good gunpowder packages were sealed and stored in the warehouse, the weather looked really like it was going to rain. The troops of each camp took turns guarding the last pass, some resting, some on guard.

  Di Zhe let go and allowed Zuo Ruo and Xiao Zhishu to command the Han camp soldiers, this was his first experience in defending a city.

  "Relax no matter what!" Xiao Zhiyan's smile was really warm, just like his older brother.

  The sky gradually darkened, and in such weather, it was impossible to accurately distinguish when night fell.

  As soon as the sky turned dark, Meng Kang, who was guarding the mountain gate, welcomed the first wave of attacks from the Chahar people. In the narrow area, neither side dared to light torches, which was a threat brought by excellent marksmen.

  The Mongols shielded their archers with shields in the dark and slowly approached the mountain gate, occasionally shooting cold arrows upwards.

  Xiao Zhiyan held a longbow in his hand, standing at the corner of the city wall in the dark. A robust man on the mountain top lit a torch and threw it down to the mountain path below with all his might. In the flash of firelight, he saw the bearded face of a Mongolian warrior below, looking frightened. In an instant, Xiao Zhiyan drew his bow and shot an arrow, followed by a mournful cry. The hidden marksmen all aimed at their targets in the brief moment when the light flashed.

  The people of Chahar experienced a moment of panic in the darkness before quickly calming down.

  Both sides continued to harass each other from dusk till the rooster's crow, with torches occasionally thrown down from the top of the mountain to check on the situation at the pass. Xiao Zhiyan led his skilled archers in counterattacking from the city tower until he finally felt tired after the hour of hai and retreated back to the mountain stronghold.

  "The Chahar people's tactic of tired soldiers! Everyone takes turns resting, as long as the gatekeepers don't relax their vigilance."

  Xiao Zhiyan's arms felt numb and sore, his expression tired.

  The weather is sweltering and the heavy rain has yet to fall.

  Amur looked up at the dark sky, if there was a downpour to cover them, the midnight raid would be much easier, for a year, Changshengtian had never catered to the wishes of Chahar people.

  The harassment method of boiling a frog in warm water made the gatekeepers of the Han camp gradually relax their vigilance, and even the torches thrown down from the top of the mountain at regular intervals had been figured out by the Chahar people.

  At the moment of the ugly hour, the torches on top of the Han Village Mountain had just flashed across the sky.

  "Depart!" Amur gave the order.

  Hundreds of Mongolian warriors quietly brought long ladders to the mountain gate of the Han camp in the dark. The rustling sound of climbing walls startled the guarding soldiers, one of the guards stretched his head out to look and was pulled down by a Mongolian warrior who was climbing over the wall, the scream woke up everyone.

  Meng Kang swiftly led his men to charge up and fight with the Mongolians who had jumped onto the wall. The Han camp was awakened, Meng Kang was brave but the bandits around him could not withstand the ferocious Chahar warriors, the battle at the mountain gate became increasingly intense.

  Shan Dingbao's Zhai Zhe jumped up and ordered the soldiers beside him, "Throw down the stones!"

  "Thrown to where?" The mountain below was a vast expanse of darkness.

  "Just throw it down the cliff wherever you are!"

  As long as they could intercept the Chahar people's reinforcements, the small number of Mongolians who came up were not to be feared. Large logs and stones rolled down the cliff onto the mountain road, and the Chahar people all hugged the inner side of the cliff and advanced towards the mountain gate, which could avoid most attacks. Occasionally, those who were unfortunately hit were lightly injured with broken limbs, and severely turned into minced meat.

  Xiao Zhiyan was awakened from his sleep, and by the time he rushed to the mountain gate, Lei Yanchen had already led his troops to provide support, and a fierce battle was underway on the earthen wall.

  "Light the gunpowder package and throw it down! Stop the reinforcements of Chahar people, these people are the delicacies sent to the mouth." Zuo Ruo rushed to the top of the mountain, he was a seasoned veteran, without a single hint of panic.

  The rolling thunder stones on the top of the cliff rolled down along the cliff wall, and the miserable cries of the Mongols came from time to time in the darkness. Xiao Zhiyan brought over a large number of wrapped gunpowder packages, and the skilled craftsmen demonstrated to the soldiers, they lit the fuse on the gunpowder package, and when the fuse was still one foot long, they suddenly threw it down the mountain pass.

  The firecracker exploded in mid-air about half a person's height off the ground, producing a burst of flame and a loud noise that echoed through the valley, startling both sides of the combatants.

  Amur's expression was tense, he did not expect that there would be firearms in this stronghold, the horse thieves on the grassland had never used firearms before.

  Some of the powder kegs were thrown down from the top of the mountain and exploded in mid-air, with waves of air flying over the ramparts, fragments flying everywhere, and countless Chahar soldiers were injured.

  Under the firelight, amidst the loud noise, even the battle-hardened Chahar people were no longer calm. Amur secretly sighed and made a decisive decision to retreat. He would rather be punished by Lin Dan Khan than let more Chahar people die here, this mountain stronghold was much stronger than he had imagined.