If you hear the drum, you will advance; if you hear the gold, you will retreat. This has been a rule of war for thousands of years. The former can inspire people to advance, while the latter can make people want to retreat. No matter how brave and brave the generals are, they cannot change it.
So when the rapid sound of gold ringing suddenly came from the bottom of the mountain, they were rushing forward with all their strength. They were about to cross the halfway point, and the momentum of the soldiers who were about to launch a frontal attack on the bandits above was discouraged. The movement of Chao's hand also stopped, and his steps stopped, showing an expression of disbelief.
Charging to seize the mountain is a situation of retreat or advance. Once the indomitable momentum of the officers and soldiers stopped, the bandits who had been killed by them in a panic quickly responded with large and small stones mixed with spears and arrows. It flew towards them like raindrops. Due to the close distance between the two sides, the shield soldiers in front could not completely block these attacks this time, and the soldiers behind them were continuously hit by the attacks, causing them to scream in agony.
Suo Chao's whole face turned blue with anger. He was really unwilling to work hard to get to this point and fall short. However, he also knew very well that it was impossible to go all out in one go. Since the offensive was blocked, it was unrealistic to continue to push forward. It would only increase casualties, so he could only roar with anger: "Retreat!" Tell his men to retreat downwards.
In fact, these soldiers also wanted to retreat. After hearing the order, they quickly and slowly went down. At the same time, they did not forget to take their brothers who were injured or killed in the battle to leave with them.
With Suo Chao, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng cutting off the rear, and several archers firing arrows upwards to deter them, they finally prevented the already powerful bandits from counterattacking, allowing them to retreat down the mountain safely. But this time, the attack on the mountain was still unsuccessful, and at the same time, the lives of eight elite soldiers of Daming Mansion were lost in vain.
As his horse galloped back to the army formation, Suo Chao rushed to Shi Wenbin like a whirlwind, stretched out his hand and grabbed his collar and shouted: "Who asked you to call me gold?" He knew that there were also people in the army at the foot of the mountain. Only the captain of Yuncheng County, as the commander-in-chief, has the authority to send troops to withdraw their troops.
Shi Wenbin was so frightened by his reaction that his face turned pale and he quickly shouted: "General Suo, please calm down. I am thinking about your safety, General." He was really afraid that the other party would give him a blow in anger. Give yourself a punch.
At this time, everyone else had woken up and hurried forward to persuade. Song Jiang even grabbed Suo Chao's hand and said urgently: "General Suo can't do it. Shi County Lieutenant is an official of the imperial court..."
Suo Chao might not be able to listen to what ordinary people said, but he still had to take what the famous Song Jiang said to heart. After a second thought, he finally let go of his hand and was no longer rude to Shi Wenbin. He already understood the meaning of Song Jiang's words. The other party was a civilian official. In the Song Dynasty, even the real military generals would not dare to be disrespectful to the civilian officials, let alone himself.
However, the anger in Suo Chao's heart was not extinguished. He just stared at Shi Wenbin, breathing heavily. Shi Wenbin was stared at by his pair of blazing eyes, and he could only say with a bitter look on his face: "General, I am thinking about your safety. Just now, the thief has injured you and several soldiers with bows and arrows. If If you rush forward like this again, I'm worried that if you make a mistake..."
He was telling the truth. Seeing Suo Chao from Daming Mansion leading his men to fight and being shot by bandits, Shi Wenbin was really scared. If they died here, their own guilt would be too great. Therefore, in line with the official principle of preferring nothing to success, he quickly ordered the money to be sent down the mountain to ensure their safety.
Suo Chao also vaguely understood the other party's thoughts at this time, which made him feel resentful. He stared at Shi Wenbin and said: "Shi County Lieutenant, did you know that just now, I can lead the army to kill the hill? Then as long as you If you lead your troops and take advantage of the situation, this Hutou Village can be wiped out in one battle! But just because you paid the price to withdraw your troops, you missed this great opportunity!"
"Ah..." Shi Wenbin's face changed drastically when he heard this. If this was really the case, his responsibility would be too great.
At this time, Liu Yuan suddenly spoke from the side: "Although what General Suo said makes sense, after all, the thieves on the mountain are powerful and the location is advantageous. It is reasonable for the county captain to worry about the general and the soldiers."
With the help of Liu Yuan, Shi Wenbin quickly calmed down and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, General Suo, it is important to suppress the thieves, but your safety is also very important. If there is any chance, the gain will not be worth the loss. After all, attacking There are still many ways and opportunities in the mountains, so if you can keep the green hills, you won’t have to worry about having no firewood.”
Suo Chao was completely speechless at this time. In terms of bickering, he was naturally far from the opponent of the civil servants. In addition, the situation was already like this, and it would be useless to talk about it, so he could only sigh and say no more. Seeing this, Song Jiang quickly said: "Someone come and treat General Suo's injury quickly. He has been hit by an arrow!" In order to ease the awkward atmosphere.
Sun Tu, who was watching this farce from a distance, shook his head and sighed. He could clearly feel that everyone was frustrated after two consecutive attacks on the mountain were frustrated, especially after the last time he saw that he could attack the mountain but still failed. Morale has hit rock bottom, and it will become increasingly difficult to attack the mountain again.
After these two mountain attacks, Sun Tu had a preliminary understanding of the current military of the Song Dynasty. The Song Army's own combat effectiveness was weak. What was really fatal was that the command power was in the hands of civilian officials who did not understand military affairs. It was particularly difficult for military generals and soldiers who dared to fight the enemy.
"What is Sanlang thinking?" At some point, Song Jiang appeared beside him. This made Sun Tu quickly collect his thoughts and said with a wry smile: "I'm wondering if there is still a chance to attack today?"
"I'm afraid it will be difficult. The morale of the entire army is low now. Even if we force them to continue attacking the mountain, the result will be the same as the first time, with only more casualties." Song Jiang also sighed in a low mood: "In fact, before this, the county The several attacks on Hutou Village had the same result. They often lost troops and generals, but could not reach the mountain at all."
"Oshi, do you think there is any other way to go up the mountain besides attacking from the front?" Sun Tu suddenly asked a question.
Song Jiang glanced at him approvingly. This young man really had some brains. But then he shook his head helplessly: "In fact, some people have thought about this before, and some people planned to climb the mountain from the rear and sides to attack. But although the west hill is not high, it is really steep, and ultimately failed."
Only then did Sun Tu understand that he could only sigh. Then he stared at the hills ahead, his mind constantly spinning, thinking of what he could do. Suddenly, another thought came up: "Oshi, why don't you use or attack?"
Looking ahead, he discovered that the cottage and the high wall protecting the cottage were made of bamboo and wood. If he attacked with fire, he would definitely cause considerable damage to the thieves.
Song Jiang shook his head again: "This tactic has been used before. However, the thief was also prepared. There is a live spring in his village - so sealing the mountain and cutting off its waterway is not possible - it is enough to extinguish ordinary fires. And our rocket range is also The limit is very tight, unless we can kill them halfway up the mountain like General Suo and the others did before, they can only pose a certain threat."
Sun Tu frowned slightly after hearing this, as if he thought of something, but for a moment he couldn't grasp the key point. Before he could think of anything, a bamboo whistle suddenly sounded, which was the order to gather them, ordinary people.
Sun Tu didn't dare to neglect, and hurried over to see what the government meant. Did he and others want to go back to the city to prepare food for the army? After all, it's almost dusk now and it's almost dark.
Many people had similar thoughts, and everyone looked forward to it after rushing over. After witnessing those two strong attacks, these people were still very timid, fearing that something might happen to them.
But then Huang Si stood in front of them and issued an order that made everyone scream: "Listen carefully, it is impossible to attack the mountain during the day, so the county captain meant to attack at night. However, The officers and soldiers are exhausted, so tonight I will select some of you to conduct a night attack." As he said that, he ordered people one by one, and soon Sun Tu was among them. At this time, everyone was Everyone was so frightened that they screamed: "How can we attack the mountain? Please spare our lives..."