Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The chief envoy of Guangxi is Si Pingxiang County.

The Marquis of Xincheng, Zhang Fu, and the Cavalry General Zhu Rong, among others, waited and waited while preparing for the rumbling heavy artillery, and specially and solemnly performed the salute of showing their teeth.

The so-called ritual of showing teeth is the ancient etiquette of sending troops to sacrifice flags.

"Poetry" says: "Pray to the father, and give him to the king's minions."

Qifu, Sima, is in charge of weapons and equipment, like a ferocious beast, with claws and teeth as defense, so the flag in front of the army is called the "Tooth Flag". When the army leaves the army, there are things about the general "Jian Ya" and "Xi Ya", and the word "Jian Ya" is used to open the government. That's where it comes from.

Of course, cutting off the head in sacrifice to the flag was not the main purpose. Zhang Fu's main purpose was to reiterate military discipline.

In front of a blazing brazier, Zhang Fu looked at the mountains and rivers of Annan Kingdom in front of him, and loudly read a brief military discipline regulations to the general in front of him.

"Your Majesty is sending troops this time not to benefit the people of the Annan land, but because of the Li thieves who harmed the country's master and tortured the Li people. They are pursuing heaven's punishment to continue the peerless world and the people's plight. We are ordered to punish the people."

"Present warnings: 1. Do not kill unless in battle; 2. Do not take anything unless given an order; 3. Do not plunder the children of the enemy's people; 4. Do not burn huts and huts; 5. Do not trample crops unless fighting."

"You should flatter the Holy Emperor and achieve great achievements. Those who do not want to die will be killed according to military law and will be killed without mercy!"

Whether it means that the Ming army at this time was fully paid, so the soldiers did not need to make extra money by themselves, or that it was indeed a bit of a benevolent and righteous army. In short, the Ming army's military discipline requirements were not low, at least at the same time. , only the army of the Timur Khanate, which placed military judges at the grassroots level, can compare.

As several enemy heads were chopped off with a broadsword, Zhang Fu also threw the paper in his hand into the brazier.

The flames licked the paper, but the generals no longer paid attention. Instead, they raised the telescope with Zhang Fu and looked at the Po Lei Pass in front of them, which was bombarded by heavy artillery.

Polei Pass - Ailiu Pass - Jiling Pass are lined up in a long snake from north to south along the official road from Daming to Annan. It is a bit like Jiameng Pass - Baishui Pass - Jianmen Pass from Hanzhong to Bashu. It is a must. You have to pull out the carrots one by one, otherwise you will be blocked.

Although there are Eagle Guard hot-air balloons in the sky for reconnaissance at high altitudes, when looking from the sky to the ground, even with a telescope, there must be many details that cannot be seen, so it is still necessary to get closer and observe. After reading this, Zhang Fu felt... The situation has been roughly clarified.

Regarding the situation inside the Po Lei Pass, although the Annan Army did not build a decent solid fortress or fortress because the border was in a tense situation before and it was difficult to carry out construction projects blatantly, they dug trenches several feet deep on both sides as barriers, and the pass walls were also It was reinforced and the outside was filled with iron caltrops, horses and other objects to hinder the Ming army's attack.

At this time, the heavy artillery of the Ming army was firing across the border. Due to the ballistic trajectory, the position of the barrier, and the power of solid bullets, the more important role of the artillery was to destroy the houses, materials, and manpower behind the barrier, rather than really destroying the stone barrier. How much damage does the wall cause? The probability of hitting an enemy on the wall is really low.

So I saw about eighty or ninety Annan soldiers on the wall of Polei Pass. They were all wearing cowhide armor and seemed to be busy doing something. Some were holding bows and arrows, some were carrying huge logs, and some were moving. Supplies. Anyway, these Annan people are not doing a good job.

Someone snorted coldly: "It's really a mob!"

Others echoed: "Yes, how can such an enemy army be worthy of being our enemy?"

Zhu Rong, the cavalry general next to him, listened to their discussion and said with a slight smile: "What you say makes sense. How dare you call these careless people our enemies? We are elites who have fought in hundreds of battles, and we can do this in one go." Then you can get it."

His words caused a burst of laughter. After laughing, they all looked at Zhang Fu, but Zhang Fu already had some concerns in his mind.

"There is only one small road leading to the pass, and it is blocked by trenches. It can be said that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. First, send a group of people to test and attack to detect the enemy's situation before making a decision."

Zhang Fu had just finished speaking.

"I will go there eventually."

"Let me take the lead!"

One after another, tall, strong and fierce generals rushed to join the battle, and around Zhang Fu, more generals gathered and expressed their willingness to do their part.

"General Yingyang Lu Yi, you go and fight the first battle." Zhang Fu looked around and then made a decision.

As a newly promoted marquis and the son of Zhang Yu, Zhang Fu still had a certain status in the Ming army. Since he spoke, no one doubted it.

"You lead 500 infantry to try to break through this pass. If you are severely frustrated, retreat back. Remember! You must be careful and never underestimate your opponent!"

Soon, five hundred fully armed Ming soldiers were arranged in five square formations. Each formation had a hundred people, and they came from all over the country. They stood neatly and solemnly at the starting point of the Ming army in front of Polei Pass.

At this time, Han Guan, the general who conquered the south, also arrived with some troops.

Zhang Fu pointed to the pass of Polei Pass and said to Han Guan: "General Han, please see, the pass of Polei Pass is narrow, and there are trenches on both sides as barriers. Although the east side of Polei Pass is a cliff, I heard that the local The smugglers said that some agile natives can climb up the rock. Does General Han have any athletes who are good at climbing? If so, we might as well deploy some elites and try to climb up. If the enemy is not prepared, then we You can send people to occupy the hills on the east side and then block the enemy's retreat."

Han Guan had been in Guangxi for so many years, and naturally he had many soldiers as agile as climbing trees and climbing mountains. He immediately felt that this operation was feasible.

As for whether the Annan people would be prepared. Not to mention that this was a surprise attack, and they had already prepared themselves for failure. As for the temperament of the Annan people, based on Han Guan's understanding of them, it was really possible that they were unprepared.

The hierarchy within the Annan Army is much more serious than that of the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, in the Ming Dynasty, a soldier who works hard enough can be promoted to a low-level or mid-level officer by killing enemies on the battlefield. If he is lucky enough, he catches up with the Battle of Jingnan. With this kind of historical opportunity, it is not impossible to become a senior military officer of the country and dynasty at the level of Tongzhi and Qianshi.

But in the Annan Army, it is basically impossible. Among the Annan people, you can only serve as a soldier for the rest of your life, because the Annan domestic dynasty ruled for too long, which resulted in the emergence of something similar to the Chinese Wei and Jin Dynasties. Hierarchy solidified.

Therefore, for the grassroots Annan soldiers, being a soldier and eating food is just a job. Since it is just a job, there is fishing, and it is serious collective fishing. The Annan Army is too lazy to patrol in heavy rain, let alone send people to keep an eye on it. On a cliff that is theoretically impossible to attack? Even if people are indeed dispatched, there is a question mark as to whether these sentries are at their posts and whether they can deliver the message in time.

There is no need to laugh, this kind of thing is actually worse than it is.

Han Dian nodded, expressing his approval of Zhang Fu's plan, and then began to deploy a bypassing strategy.

Han Guan came to the east side of the Ming army assembly area. At this moment, a chieftain was standing here. He saw Han Guan coming with a group of soldiers and hurriedly greeted him.

"I am humble enough to pay my respects to the general!"

This man's name was Li Xiufu. He was originally a domestic slave of a small chieftain in Annan. He gained the status of a free man because of his meritorious service in fighting with the chieftain. Later, the chieftain died in a battle with Han Guan, and he surrendered to the Ming army.

Well, the border area is quite chaotic anyway. The actual territory controlled by the two countries is actually not very bordering. There are large areas controlled by the chieftains in the middle. These chieftains are just outsiders, but now the Ming Dynasty is stronger, so they turn to the Ming Dynasty. Just a little more.

Luzhou, Xipingzhou, and Yongpingzhai were actually the former Siming Mansion of the Ming Dynasty. However, because they bordered the Annan Kingdom and were close to Lang Son, they were now actually controlled by the chieftains of the Annan Kingdom.

"No need, I will order you to immediately organize warriors to assist our Ming Dynasty in tackling key problems." Han Guan ordered indifferently.

Obviously, Han Guan did not intend to use the Guangxi wolf soldiers under his command, but only planned to let the surrendered chieftain soldiers and the two Japanese soldiers take the lead.

When Li Xiufu heard this, he felt happy. He was originally a traitor to the Annan Kingdom. If he didn't help the Ming army and make some contributions, he would definitely have a way to climb up. Now that Han Guan has given him a chance to perform, how could he not It made him ecstatic.

"It's a humble duty to obey orders, but"

Li Xiufu looked at Han Guan and hesitated to speak.

Han Guan said coldly: "Are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared. I just want to ask the general, when can I return to my hometown?" Li Xiufu asked in a low voice.

"After Annan is captured, you can naturally choose to leave safely, or you can change your identity and become a general for Chen Tianping. As for returning to your hometown, don't worry, your family members will be fine."

"Then thank you, general." Li Xiufu and several future generals of the assisting defense army said with gratitude.

There is a steep cliff to the northeast of Polei Pass. On the top of the cliff, there are some thick vines hanging down to the bottom of the cliff. And these teams who have made a surprise attack are responsible for climbing up this nearly vertical cliff like apes. Climb up.

Although this cliff is nearly tens of feet high, it is not difficult for Li Xiufu and the others. As long as they have vines as support and their strong arms, climbing is very simple.

Several grappling hooks were also fired with crossbows and nailed to the cliff.

"Hold on, get ready to climb!"

Li Xiufu shouted to the local soldiers behind him, and the soldiers all grasped the hemp ropes or vines in their hands.

"call--"

A short and sturdy soldier used all his strength to climb up to the gap above the cliff.

Just as his body stood firm, the rocks under his feet broke, and he suddenly fell down. Fortunately, he held on to the vines firmly, and even though his palms and arms were bloody and bloody, he did not let go. A life was saved.

This unexpected situation scared the other people and they quickly shrank their heads and necks. They didn't dare to take a breath, let alone continue climbing.

"It's too dangerous here. Let's move to another place." A thin man advised.

Li Xiufu looked up and saw that the top of the cliff was covered with thorns. If he was not careful, he might fall down the canyon forever.

"Whoever wants to retreat, get out as soon as possible. Things are going to change in Annan Kingdom soon. It's the time when I'm waiting to return home in fine clothes and turn over to become a prince and general. Wealth is in front of me. If I want to give up, no one will force me."

After hearing Li Xiufu's words, the admonisher sneered and closed his mouth.

Although it is dangerous, wealth can be found in danger.

These Guangxi native soldiers and the surrendered Annan people did not care about what the Ming Dynasty would do with the Annan Kingdom, or how much land it would take away from the Annan Kingdom. They only cared about their own future.

It is obvious that once the Ming Dynasty supports Chen Tianping to restore the country, a large number of troops will be needed to maintain rule. Among the troops of the new Annan Kingdom, whoever surrenders to the Ming Dynasty first will be more likely to climb higher.

Li Xiufu ignored him and stared at the sky above the cliff, looking for a good opportunity to climb.

After a while, when we reached the top, the vines were gone.

Li Xiufu's eyes swept to the gap in the cliff. He reached out and touched the short ax at his waist. He fixed the position with his legs, then swung the ax and slashed down hard. When it got stuck in the gap, Li Xiufu pulled a few times. Down, making sure the ax stopped falling, and then stood firmly on the cliff.

Then they followed the same pattern, using knives and axes to dig out shallow pits for climbing step by step. It took a lot of time, and they fell off the cliff in the middle, killing and injuring more than a dozen people. Only then did they successfully climb to the cliff.

Li Xiufu observed that there were no Annan Army sentries around, and then said to the soldiers: "Look at the situation on the front, we can launch an attack later. I will take the lead in the charge, so don't be afraid!"

"Here!" Everyone agreed with a roar.

——————

At this time, more than half an hour has passed, but the positive situation is not as optimistic as the Ming army expected. It can only be said to be stable and making progress.

Without pointing out the technological point of "explosive bombs", heavy artillery's solid shells alone cannot effectively cover the troops in conquering Xiongguan, and can only play some supporting role.

If we just talk about the damage effect on the wall, it is not even as good as the counterweight trebuchet. Of course, the two cannot be compared like this. No matter what weapon, it needs to be perfected from generation to generation.

However, the firearms of the Ming army still had a great effect. The army of Annan State did not know the power of the new match rope blunderbuss. They only saw that the Ming army did not use crossbows, but they did not know that fire blunderbuss were much more powerful than crossbows at this distance. .

As long as an arrow misses the vital point, it will not make a person lose combat effectiveness. But if a lead bullet hits the body, regardless of whether it hits the vital point, it will cause lead poisoning!

After lead accumulates in the human body, it is difficult to discharge it automatically, and the actual wound area caused by the lead bullet will be several times larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the projectile. It is basically a hole as big as a fist in a gun.

"boom-"

After a gunshot, an Annan soldier hiding in the horse-facing wall let out a miserable groan, clutched his chest and slowly fell down, with bright red blood flowing out from his fingers.

"Bang~bang~bang~"

A series of crisp gunshots spread throughout the fields, and the guards of Annan Kingdom were constantly being killed by the Ming army.

At this distance, the counterattack effect of Annan's infantry bow was very poor, because there were rattan players on both sides of the Ming army's artillery soldiers. Only the bed crossbows on the wall could play some role, but because the number was limited, the effect was also not obvious.

The soldiers of the Ming Army used various tools to quickly fill in the trenches on the outermost side of the gate. Then the gun troops began to move forward, shooting at close range, setting up firearms, aiming at the enemies on the tower and pulling the triggers.

These firearms brought by Liu Sheng are basically new firearms. In addition to fire guns, there are also some new gadgets developed by craftsmen from the Weapons Bureau and the Warfare Bureau. They are amazingly powerful, have a long range, and have excellent penetration, especially In this scenario, it is an invincible weapon against the Annan Kingdom defenders who have little bulletproof capabilities.

Many Annan defenders were frightened by the sound of firearms being fired. When they were distracted, they were shot through the head, shoulders, and abdomen by flying lead pellets, killing them instantly.

But after the Ming army's bombardment ended, a large number of Annan Army soldiers in Guancheng began to swarm to the top of the city again, at least hundreds of them.

"Fire the arrow!"

The Annan officer on the city gate drew his machete and ordered the crossbowmen to throw arrows wildly at the formation of the Ming army attacking the city, while coating the arrows with poison.

"ah--"

After a scream, a Ming army soldier was pierced between the eyebrows by a crossbow arrow, and his whole body fell into the ditch below Guancheng.

"Puff~Puff~"

Arrow after arrow pierced the air, piercing the shields, armor, and even bodies of the Ming army.

But this did not affect the well-trained Ming army, which quickly advanced to the edge of the last trench with various trench-filling items.

"Spread the planks quickly!" an old officer yelled.

Soon, dozens of long, deliberately spliced ​​wooden boards were laid out from both sides of the trench, forming a wide slope passage.

"superior!"

Led by officers, hundreds of Ming soldiers rushed up the slope made of wooden planks.

The combat quality of these Ming troops was obviously not weak. They were still marching in an orderly manner, and they were not at all panicked by the enemy troops above the wall who were firing crossbows at them.

"Lay the bed crossbow!" The Annan Army general on the top of the city saw the Ming army coming up below. He immediately ordered to let the precious bed crossbow strike below.

The crossbow arrows, which were as thick as a child's arm, were like short spears. When they poured down, they immediately left a bloody mess of limbs in the Ming army's array.

There is no way, at this distance, being shot by a bed crossbow is not a matter of praying whether you can defend yourself, but praying that it is best not to be penetrated by sugar-coated haws and kill other friendly troops.

The rain of arrows at the top of the city became more and more intensive, and it was obvious that the Annan people were afraid.

The Ming army also began to suffer losses one after another. This kind of losses could not even be avoided by the fire gunmen firing with all their strength.

Such losses are simply not worth mentioning to some veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles.

But for ordinary soldiers drawn from the twenty guards north and south of the Yangtze River, it was a very fatal thing.

Although every time the arrows rained down, they were always able to dodge in time or use shields to avoid the arrows.

However, under the dense rain of arrows, many soldiers were still wounded, killed by stray arrows, or fell to the ground.

But after all, they were all selected to attack the city. Even though they suffered a lot of losses, they pushed forward unswervingly until they reached the edge of the wall.

"Throw!"

"call out--"

Following the orders from the officers, all the Annan soldiers guarding the pass threw the rolling wooden rocks in their hands and hit the Ming army who started to climb the wall.

In this case, Ming soldiers began to brave these attacks and tried to climb up the city on ladders.

However, the siege did not go smoothly. Every time, the Annan army, which was led by officers and charged forward, was pushed back. Obviously, the Annan army had made enough plans to hold on. These officers, who were generally from chieftains or noble families, Inspired by this, they did not begrudge their extremely "noble" lives in Annan. These defenders, who were Annan's elite troops, also became red-eyed. For a while, no one could do anything to anyone, and they were quite stalemate.

However, at this moment, shouts of killing suddenly came from behind the city!

A man came around from the cliff and solved the sentry. Soldiers wearing cowhide armor or no armor also rushed to the battlefield waving weapons.

Moreover, most of them "landed" directly along the vines from the mountains on the east side of Guancheng!

Although Li Xiufu's troops were not strong in combat effectiveness, this sudden attack, setting fire to the city walls and hindering logistics and troop transportation, obviously disrupted the battle rhythm of the Annan Kingdom defenders.

"Kill--"

Accompanied by deafening shouts, knowing that the friendly forces had successfully rounded off the flanks, a large number of Ming army's backup troops poured into the city like a tide.

Although the terrain in front of Guancheng is very narrow, since they have seen the opportunity to conquer it, Zhang Fu and others will naturally not be stingy in investing troops.

The reinforcements were led by the hussar general Zhu Rong. He rode his horse to the front of the formation, then handed the horse's reins to his deputy, took out his two halberds and put them on his back, and took the lead in climbing to the top of the city.

And General Ying Yang Lu Yi, who was in charge of leading the battle before him, was already standing on the top of the city and was struggling to maintain the position on the top of the city.

The tip of the halberd in the hand of the hussar general Zhu Rong pierced the throat of the Annan soldier in front of him. The red blood suddenly spurted out and splashed on the halberd, dyeing the cold iron red.

The Annan soldier's eyes widened, as if he had seen something terrifying before he died. His pupils suddenly shrunk, his face turned pale, and his eyes were unfocused.

"The general is mighty!"

"The Ming army is victorious!"

After the troops led by Zhu Rong climbed onto the city wall, the Ming army's attack rhythm suddenly accelerated. Soldiers continued to jump in from the top of the city along the ladders and started hand-to-hand combat with the Annan defenders.

"Attack!"

The war drums of each battalion of the Ming army resounded through the sky, and the soldiers raised their weapons in unison, roaring and charging towards the enemy's defenses.

Seen from the sky, at this moment, the Ming army was swarming towards the pass like a black tide of ants.

One bullet after another fell into the enemy's defenses, causing a splash of blood.

Countless arrows roared in, piercing the enemy's shields and armor, and piercing their flesh.

The scale of Annan's passes is smaller than some of the great passes of the Ming Dynasty, and the city walls are relatively low. This also leads to the fact that the number of people that the Ming army can climb up within a unit time begins to exceed the number of Annan defenders who can push back. The southern defenders relied on the defensive advantages to withstand the Ming army, but as Li Xiufu retreated, everything became irreversible.

Although the Annan defenders were determined to persevere, there were too many Ming soldiers on the city. There was indeed a gap in combat effectiveness and coordination between the two sides, which could not be made up by a temporary attack. They were unable to stop it.

"Get the hell back!"

Wu Shixun, the guard general of Annan State at the head of the city, saw his side retreating steadily and immediately made a judgment: "Escape from here quickly."

Under the powerful attack of the Ming army, the defenders who were still holding on were defeated and began to run south.

"Where to go?"

"Don't let them get away!"

Guanmen was controlled by the Ming army, and at this time the generals of the Ming army also entered Guancheng on horseback.

"Are you still chasing?" Someone asked conservatively, looking at the soldiers who were chasing after them spontaneously.

Zhang Fu was noncommittal and continued: "Now that Po Lei Pass has been captured, we must not let anyone escape. We must quickly send cavalry to chase and kill, and then let Liu Sheng also start shooting at the back of the pass!"

Zhang Fu already had an idea in his mind at this time. The victory he needed was not just the first level.

"I will obey your orders!"

A part of the Ming army cavalry chased after them waving their sabers.

"Bang~~Bang~~Bang~"

The rate of fire of heavy artillery is very slow and requires a lot of preparation time and cooling time. However, at this time, the artillery unit commanded by Liu Sheng did not care about the danger of exploding the barrel. After moving its position forward, it continued to fire towards the back of Guancheng to prevent The retreat of the defenders.

Faced with the double obstruction of artillery interception and pursuit by pursuers, almost no one in the defenders could escape.

"Dong dong dong——"

The Ming army's siege actually lasted for nearly an hour, and the battle did not end until the afternoon.

In this attack, the Ming army suffered a total loss of nearly a hundred people, but not only did they almost annihilate more than 1,800 Annan defenders, they also finally won the battle, successfully captured Polei Pass and captured The son of a great nobleman of the Annan Kingdom and the guard of Polei Pass, Wu Shixun.

At the same time, Zhang Fu made extremely decisive arrangements. He ordered Li Xiufu and other Annan people who surrendered. Although they had made great contributions, they could not rest now. Instead, they coerced Wu Shixun, pretended to be Annan's defeated troops, and rushed to the pass. Stay at the gate and cheat to open and close the door, and seize the opportunity to seize the gate.

————

"Who is it? They will release arrows if they go further!" the sentry asked warily.

The sentries at Ailiu Pass became nervous when they saw the army appearing in the north of the road. However, when the army got a little closer, they found that they were dragging their flags upside down, some were missing their weapons and armor, and even their shoes were missing. The one that was lost looked like a defeated army.

A few dozen steps away, a warning arrow fell.

The person in the lead shouted in pure Annan slang: "Everyone in front is dead!"

After he finished speaking, he looked mournful again: "Oh my, I'm so sorry for my son. He just got married and he was killed by the Ming army."

Li Xiufu's words were confusing and illogical, and then the Annan surrender troops around him who had long surrendered to the Ming Dynasty started shouting in the dialects of different chieftain districts. They were nothing more than "We are friendly forces. Our army has been defeated. Let us go quickly." Words like "Run".

Some people spoke in very miserable voices, as if they were about to cry to death.

Seeing the other party's appearance, the defenders at Ailiuguan believed it, and some people hurried to report it to the general.

After the guard heard the news, he raised his eyebrows and thought, "Have you been defeated so quickly?"

When the Ming army attacked, Wu Shixun sent someone to send him a message, but he really didn't expect that Wu Shixun was completely defeated in just an hour.

You know, Polei Pass is not an easy pass to conquer. This speed of defeat is really beyond his expectation.

"What a dandy and a waste!" the guard cursed in his heart.

Soon after, he went to investigate the situation himself.

Ailiuguan was built on a mountain ridge that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Different from Poleiguan, defensive forts were built on the two hills on the east and west sides of Ailiuguan, forming two Fortresses that echo each other are obviously more difficult to attack than Po Lei Pass. After careful observation, the guard found that those under the city were indeed the soldiers of Annan who had collapsed, and he also noticed a familiar figure among the defeated troops. He pulled at the battlements and asked loudly: "Wu Shixun?" "

"it's me!"

"Why did you lose the test so quickly? What will you tell General Hu later?"

The so-called General Hu is Hu Lie. He and Pan Maxiu are both powerful generals in the Annan Army, and they are also relatives of the Hu family. They are responsible for the defense of Po Lei, Ailiu and Jiling Pass, and he leads an army of 30,000. , was personally in charge of the last and most dangerous Jiling Pass, so the guard would ask such a question. Even if he let Wu Shixun go, Hu Lie would not forgive him easily.

"Let's talk about it after we meet General Hu."

Wu Shixun shook his head bitterly: "You can see clearly, our morale is very low. Now we only have these few people left. Oh, you don't know. We were driven to pieces by those Ming troops just now. The Ming army's firearms It's really sharp! Those cannons and muskets will break into pieces when they hit people. Good guy, there are thousands of muskets pointed at me!"

Other defeated soldiers also spoke in Annan dialect, expressing that they were really in trouble this time.

The guard frowned: "Is the combat effectiveness of this Ming army so terrifying?"

Although the guard general looked down on Wu Shixun, he himself was only second-rate in the Annan army. He felt that since Wu Shixun was so inexperienced, even if he were to replace him, he would probably not get any benefits. After all, the strength of Poleiguan and Ailiu was It's almost the same.

Wu Shixun sighed: "More than just terror? We didn't even see the Ming Army Commander and were overwhelmed. What's the point of this battle?"

After a few breaths of silence, the guard ordered the door to be opened to the defeated soldiers.

It's not that the guard was careless, firstly, Wu Shixun's status in Annan Kingdom was indeed not simple. If he didn't let him enter the pass and died before the pass, he couldn't bear it. As for what Hu Lie would do with Wu Shixun, then Don't worry about him; the second is that he needs to get enough information from these defeated soldiers. After all, the next target of the Ming army is him. There is a saying in China about war. If you know yourself and the enemy, you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. The third is that if you are defeated, The number of soldiers is indeed small. It is impossible to pass the level with just such a small number of people. There are two to three thousand people in Guan City. Although the scale is not comparable to the extremely grand Jiling Pass, it is still a medium-sized level, so it is not that easy. captured.

However, none of the Annan defenders noticed that several hot air balloons were floating on the top of the mountain in the distance. The Eagle Guard observers above saw the "defeated army" entering Guancheng and were frantically waving semaphores to the ground.

The more than a thousand cavalry hidden on the official road on the ground are also ready to rush forward with all their strength. Once the "broken army" begins to capture Guanmen, they will provide full support.

Just after these defeated troops entered Ailiuguan, a sudden change occurred.

The Annan surrender troops and local soldiers disguised as broken troops, as well as the Ming army elites who had been silent among the ranks, suddenly drew their swords and slashed at these comrades.

"asshole!"

The guard roared angrily: "What are you doing? Are you rebelling? Put down your weapons!"

At this time, the defenders in the pass were caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties, and the entire pass suddenly turned into a mess.

This group of Ming soldiers ignored him at all and continued to violently kill the Annan defenders in the pass.

At the same time, they began to destroy the gate gate, trying to prevent the gate from landing, and controlled the lifting mechanism of the suspension bridge.

This situation made the guard react immediately. Looking at Wu Shixun who was being held hostage with a knife, he drew his sword angrily: "Come here, kill them, leave no one behind!"

"Yes!" The surrounding defenders responded, picked up their weapons and began to fight.

However, the Ming army was well prepared. Although they were forced to form a formation near the gate to resist due to their extreme numerical disadvantage, they took out the "secret weapon" developed by the Ordnance Bureau.

——Thunder.

Well, that is to say, the grenade is not, perhaps from the appearance point of view, it is more appropriate to call it a "grenade can".

Boom!

The houses and streets in Ailiuguan were affected by the violent shock wave and all trembled.

This is a newly developed firearm of the Ming Dynasty. It is extremely powerful and its destructive power is astonishing.

In an instant, countless Annan defenders who came up were blown into parts. Many Annan defenders were frightened and stood there without daring to move.

Even the mounts under the defenders' crotches were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, the rumble of horse hooves was heard on the official road not far away.

At this time, the city wall of Ailiuguan also sounded an alarm: "Enemy attack!"

"Damn it! There are a large number of Ming troops!"

There was another loud noise, and the thousand-jin gate that closed the Ailiu Pass was completely destroyed.

A large number of Ming army cavalry rushed into Ailiu Pass along the suspension bridge and city gate opened to the defeated troops, trying hard to maintain the nearly collapsed troops and get out of the way.

Moreover, in addition to spears and sabers, these cavalry are also equipped with cavalry handguns. Although they can only be fired once, they are powerful enough at close range.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Pfft."

After a brief confrontation, the throat of the guard at Ailiuguan was shattered by the Ming army's gun, and blood flowed out. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

However, he said nothing.

Obviously, he never expected before his death that the level he worked so hard to manage would fall so easily.

The body of the guard at Ailiu Pass was abandoned on the ground, and screams could be heard from Ailiu Pass.

After the fall of Ailiuguan, the Ming army seized a large amount of grain and supplies at Ailiuguan, and also captured many prisoners, as well as some Annan generals.

However, since there were no troops to bypass the rear, unlike the Battle of Polei Pass, some of the defenders at Ailiuguan escaped. Obviously, the trick of cheating the pass could not be played again.

In one day, two passes were defeated in a row, and Lang Son, the core position of the enemy's Fuliang River defense line, was now in sight.

"Do you want to continue the attack? The soldiers are already a little tired, are they a little too impatient? This Jiling Pass is a powerful pass, it is extremely easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Zhang Fu said calmly: "This time we are going to defeat them thoroughly and hurt them. If we can't defeat them in one go, it will be much more troublesome to have such an opportunity in the future."

However, Zhang Fu was not satisfied yet. Although he was young, he was already a famous general.

He decided to strike while the iron was hot, and the entire army launched a massive attack on the last obstacle in front of the Furiang River defense line.

——Jiling Pass with 30,000 defenders!