It was the end of August in a blink of an eye. After a period of hustle and bustle, everything in the mountains was gradually getting back on track. Under Cao Ergou's rigorous training, the Pili Army had a faint shadow of a strong army. Especially in the field camp,

Not only are the troops well-organized and disciplined, they are also quite skilled in the operation of artillery and grenades. Due to their production capacity

The reason is that currently the Perak Army only has more than a dozen Tiger Crouching Cannons and Mother-Son Cannons, and cannot yet equip two companies. However, as the weather in the mountains begins to get cooler day by day, the color of the leaves on the top of the mountain gradually changes from emerald green to silky green.

Silk red, Ouyang Xuan decided not to wait for enough artillery, and was ready to take action against the Wanjiaping bandits.

The reason why he was in a hurry to attack the Wanjiaping bandits was because Ouyang Xuan wanted to clear the mountain roads before the autumn grain harvest and stock up as much grain and necessary living supplies as possible, so that the Pili Army and the people under its rule could prepare for the upcoming harvest.

to support the Mongol invasion. After going to Qiongzhou to buy salt,

Zhu Tiaozi also organized several groups of small-scale trading teams to go out, but the hidden trails were difficult to travel, and they could only sell and buy light and valuable goods. As a result, daily necessities needed in the mountains were still in short supply, and the warehouses of the trading teams were overstocked.

There are a large number of ordinary mountain goods and industrial and mining products such as iron ingots and agricultural tools.

The news of the attack on the Wanjiaping bandits excited the Pili Army. The Xiong Ben bandit gang committed many evil deeds, and many soldiers of the Pili Army had suffered greatly. Moreover, during this period, the soldiers in the field camp were trained too hard by Cao Ergou.

I was holding a breath in my heart and wanted to

Use bandits to practice and vent their anger. The commanders of the Perak Army all knew that the mountain road was narrow and the attack surface was only a few meters wide at its widest. No matter how large the number of people were, they could not spread out and could not use the human sea tactic. Therefore, when Ouyang Xuan decided to use only two companies

At that time, no one had any opinions, but each company

The company commanders began to secretly compete over who could take on the task, and asked Cao Ergou privately for a fight. Cao Ergou was unbearable and was in a dilemma, so he pushed the problem to Ouyang Xuan and let him make a decision. Ouyang Xuan saw the morale of the army.

If available, it was decided to be led by Cao Ergou

The first company was responsible for the main attack, and the remaining four companies each took three squads to temporarily form a reinforced company, which he personally led as a reserve team. Such a result made the first company commander Chen Hu feel proud, and the remaining four companies

Although the director is not satisfied, he can still accept it.

Only by knowing the enemy can you win a hundred battles. During this period, the Pili Army has not relaxed its reconnaissance of Wanjiaping. Cao Ergou sent a large number of capable personnel to conduct reconnaissance around his Wanjiazhai. The Xiong Ben gang is also infiltrating and spying on Liuliba.

Spies from both sides encountered each other repeatedly, and many small incidents occurred.

In general, the Perak Army's scouts equipped with grenades had a great advantage and successfully suppressed the bandits' espionage activities. However, the Perak Army's reconnaissance could only stop at the bandits' new attack at the T-junction.

Building a stone fortress, you can't get close to Wanjiazhai for reconnaissance, you can only watch from a distance.

Next to the mountain road leading to Wanjiazhai, the bandits originally had several wooden watchtowers, but they were burned down during the last attack by the Mongolian Hundreds, and they were all rebuilt this time. The bandits obviously learned their lesson and moved the watchtowers

The tower was built from wood to stone

, greatly improving its defensive power. The Xiong Ben Bandit is not a straw bag. Its new stone fortress at the T-junction was built quickly and strongly, and the location was also very particular. Although the area is only one acre square, the walls

Only more than five meters

High, but because it is located on the hillside at the intersection of T-shaped roads leading to Wanjiaping and Liuliba roads, it overlooks the two roads below from a high position, and the roads in and out of the mountain and to Wanjiazhai are closely connected.

Hold on, one man can control ten thousand men

Mo Kai's formation. The Pili Army also collected sporadic information about the Wanjiaping bandits from other channels, but they did not find out about the military defense situation. They only knew that Xiong Ben forcibly recruited some people to join the bandit and blocked the gate of Wanjiazhai.

The walls of the village were reinforced.

The newly built fortress by the bandits is indeed a tough one. It showed strong defensive power as soon as the battle began, almost causing the first company led by Cao Ergou to lose its teeth. The bandits placed two light machines in this fortress.

The trebuchets formed a fire blockade on the more than 200-meter mountain road near the T-shaped road, allowing the Perak troops to file forward along the narrow mountain road.

There was no way to hide, and a round of flying rocks hit several soldiers of the Perak Army. The impact of the dense stones thrown from a high position was extremely powerful. Although it could not break the iron and wooden shields of the Perak Army, it still smashed the shield holders.

His arm was broken, and flying rocks even hit the shield holder, causing him to roll over and over again. The man and his shield fell into the turbulent flow of the Wenjing River below the mountain road.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, Cao Ergou quickly ordered the entire company to retreat out of the range of the trebuchets and bombarded the fortress with artillery. However, because the mountains next to the road blocked the firing range, the direct-aiming mother and son cannons could not be used. The tigers fired directly.

Although the squatting gun can hit the fortress, the mountain road is narrow and only one cannon can be placed to attack. Moreover, due to its low power, the projectiles fired can only leave a shallow mark on the wall of the fort.

Shallow bullet marks and sparse shelling could not affect the trebuchet's continued firing, which made the bandits even more arrogant. Seeing that the artillery was not powerful, Cao Ergou chose strong soldiers to hold shields and rush through the trebuchet blockade.

Braving the dense rain of arrows, they rushed forward and prepared to throw grenades into the fortress. However, they were blocked by a deep trench dozens of meters away from the front of the fortress and had to retreat.

In the following time, the Pili Army organized several more attacks but failed. Seeing that it was getting late, but was stuck on the mountain road and could not move forward, Cao Ergou was anxious but helpless, and decided to wait for Ouyang Xuan

We'll make plans when we get here. He has already sent people to

The news of the obstruction was reported to Ouyang Xuan in Liuliba. Brother Xuan is now leading a squad, traveling lightly on the way. Ouyang Xuan only led one squad, not only because he was in a hurry, but also because the mountain road was not wide.

No matter how many people you bring, it won't help.

At dusk, Ouyang Xuan reunited with the first company. After observing the battlefield situation and listening to Cao Ergou's detailed report, he issued the first order: all personnel retreated to five miles away, except for the security personnel.

In addition, the rest of the personnel rested on the spot.

And extinguished the torches and remained silent. Everyone thought the order to remain silent and alert was logical, but extinguishing the torches was a bit strange. You must know that there is a roaring river under the mountain road. Although the light of the torches is weak,

But it can ensure that everyone will not slip and fall into the river. Ouyang Xuan, who has always advocated democratic discussion and collective efforts, did not explain much to everyone's confusion. After everyone settled down, he directly issued the battle plan to Cao Ergou.

This night on the mountain road is really not suitable for discussion. On the other hand, it is also because it is unrealistic to ask people in the Southern Song Dynasty to discuss a good way to attack the enemy with artillery. This is not because Ouyang Xuan is smarter and wiser, but because he has accumulated more than a thousand years of experience.
Chapter completed!