At noon on the second day after the first battle, Sun Tu finally led his army to the front of Baihu Mountain.
Since Baihu Mountain is called a mountain, it is naturally not low. It is more than twice as high as the Xishan Hill in Yuncheng County that we attacked at the beginning. However, the location of Baihu Village on the mountain is not that high. The village is only built halfway up the mountain. Although the mountain road is narrow and difficult to climb, it is not so steep that it is dangerous. It is just a way to attack the enemy who has been prepared from the bottom up. It's not that easy to launch an upward attack.
In addition, Baihu Village at the foot of the mountain had already been easily occupied by the army. Originally, there were dozens or hundreds of bandits left in the village, but after the Kong brothers led the remaining people back in a panic, it only took one night to bring everyone up the mountain. In the absence of favorable geographical location and more defensive means, the Baihushan people who had already suffered a lot of losses at the hands of the official army did not dare to fight head-on with the Qingzhou Army. However, although people ran up the mountain, due to their haste, many things in the village were left behind, including some food and money.
After arriving at Baihu Mountain, Sun Tu did not let the army rest on the spot. Instead, he quickly summoned several important generals under his command and discussed taking advantage of the situation to attack Baihu Mountain. These more than a thousand Qingzhou soldiers have now been divided by Sun Tu into three battalions, A, B, and C, plus a scout battalion. In addition to Luda Yang Zhi and others, he also promoted several stable and courageous sergeants from the army as a group of soldiers. The battalion commander, at this time, he was giving his orders to these commanders:
"Zhou Xing, you lead the three hundred brothers of the Jiazi Battalion to attack Baihu Mountain immediately. Remember, I am not in a hurry to capture this mountain now. You just have to fight slowly. The most important thing is to let the soldiers truly understand the battlefield. The cruelty and killing methods. Also, just in case, let the shield bearer go at the front. The B-shaped battalion and the C-shaped battalion are preparing in the rear, and they will take turns to attack the mountain according to the order!"
Several battalion commanders all clasped their fists to accept the order, and then Zhou Xing from the A-shaped battalion rushed out excitedly. After a few shouts, more than 300 sergeants from the A-shaped battalion quickly gathered into a team and set out. After getting into position, they launched an attack towards the rugged and narrow mountain road.
The White Tiger bandits on the mountain couldn't help but panic when they saw the official army launching an offensive as soon as they arrived. Someone immediately turned around and ran to report to their leader. Soon Kong Liang, who was slightly injured, arrived at the wooden structure with an angry look on his face. In front of the village wall, after observing for a while, he decisively ordered: "Let them come up, and then attack with the stones we prepared. I want these officers and soldiers to know how powerful my Baihu Mountain is, and they cannot be provoked casually!" Even if His two brothers were defeated due to external injuries, but he still had enough confidence in the defensive capabilities of the village. To prepare for this day, Baihu Village has stockpiled many large rocks and giant trees!
Seeing that the bandits on the mountain were holding still for the time being, the sergeants of Camp A were even more encouraged, and they rushed up faster and faster. They had known about the direct battle between the Scout Battalion and the bandits before. They thought that if the Scout Battalion could defeat the enemy with a small number, then they would not have any problems, not to mention that the strength of the Guangjia Zi Battalion was not under Baihu Mountain.
Amidst the bursts of shouts and cries, the A-shaped battalion quickly rushed to a distance of tens of feet. Seeing that there was only a mountain road left from the gate of Baihu Village, many sergeants had already put down their short shorts. The bows were all drawn out. Just waiting for the enemy to show their heads, they started with
Shoot them with bows and arrows.
But at this moment, a sudden shout came from the mountain: "Let go!" Then there was the sound of swords chopping on the rope trees and vines. A moment later, a rumble sounded from above, and rocks the size of millstones were heard. It had rolled down the steep mountain road and smashed down. Although it was still some distance away, the momentum of the crash was already frightening.
Zhou Xing's expression changed immediately when he saw this, and he shouted hurriedly: "Everyone retreat, the shield men come forward!"
At this time, it finally became apparent what the elite of this Qingzhou army was different from other official armies. If it were any other army, when encountering such an attack, many people would be disorganized, turn around and run away. In this way, this narrow and steep mountain road would be crowded with more than 300 people, and even because Many soldiers would be pushed and trampled to death, not to mention the large rocks rolling down from behind.
But after hearing the order, these Qingzhou soldiers did not show any confusion at all. Everyone retreated in an orderly manner. At the same time, the tall and strong shield soldiers strode forward amidst the roars, and each one came higher than the other. The shield had been smashed into the dirt by them, leaning in front of the team.
After all this was done quickly, the rocks had already crashed, hitting the rows of shields with a bang. After all, this kind of natural force cannot be easily resisted by human beings. In a moment, the first few shield soldiers could no longer bear it and fell down. They could only be resisted by their companions at the back. Then the shields continued to break and soldiers Fall down…
But precisely because of the shield soldiers blocking them in front, the sergeants at the rear were able to retreat calmly. When they reached an open spot below, everyone dispersed quickly. In this way, those rocks rolling down won't cause much damage. After the wave of rocks stopped, Zhou Xing shouted: "Jia Zi Camp, charge!" He led his army to attack again.
When the bandits on the mountain saw this, their expressions changed drastically. Only then did they realize that they had really encountered a powerful enemy this time. You must know that when they fought against the officers and soldiers in the past, this move alone could kill the officers and soldiers with heavy casualties, but today they only knocked down more than 30 shield soldiers, and the opponent's muscles were not injured at all.
Moreover, these stones weighed tens to hundreds of kilograms, and it would take a lot of effort to rearrange them again. At this time, when the enemy came, they had no time to place any more stones. Seeing this, Kong Liang could only shout loudly: "Brothers, follow me and kill them, and repel them!" After saying that, he jumped down and came up waving his sword.
The other bandits also knew that they must not retreat at this time. At that moment, more than a hundred bandits howled and rushed down. They are more familiar with the mountain roads and environment here, and know that there is not much effect if there are too many people. A hundred people are enough to completely block the road here.
So in the blink of an eye, hundreds of people and horses started a close-quarters battle on the mountain road about ten feet away from the mountain village, and shouts and screams could be heard from time to time. Although there were many officers and soldiers, they could not all join the battle at the moment, so they did not take any advantage. On the contrary, they were at a slight disadvantage because they were occupied by the terrain.
At the foot of the mountain, Sun Tu, who was standing in front of the army, frowned slightly. Although he had expected this situation, he was still a little dissatisfied: "Practice is one thing in normal times, but when it comes to the battlefield, there are still some problems.
There are many shortcomings. Zhou Xing was too impatient and just led the people to fight fiercely. If we could use more strategies, our situation would not be so difficult. "
Several generals on the side nodded in agreement, and Yang Zhi even said: "If he can distribute his troops and horses in a hierarchical manner, and then use a trick to deceive the enemy, he might really be able to achieve great results."
These words were heard by the two commanders of Camp B and Camp C, which immediately gave them confidence, and they all turned their attention to Sun Tu: "Captain, let's go to Camp A like this." The casualties are not small, why not..."
Sun Tu nodded: "Ming Jin, let them retreat first, and let the brothers from Yzi camp go up." This time when he attacked Baihu Mountain, he did not intend to defeat it in one battle, but intended to use battle as training, so that The Qingzhou soldiers under his command have seen blood and know what fighting means on the battlefield, so the battalions taking turns to attack the mountain are part of the strategy.
Zhou Xing had just knocked over a bandit, and he wanted to take advantage of the situation, but suddenly the sound of Jin Jin retreating came from the bottom of the mountain, which made him sigh bitterly: "I've given you an advantage. withdraw!"
Although it had decided to retreat, this army still did not lose its position. While constantly fighting with the enemy, it slowly retreated, and even killed several bandits who were eager to pursue them. Seeing this, Kong Liang also knew that it was impossible to pursue anymore, so he could only whistle, and led his brothers to stop the pursuit, watching the Jiazi Camp people and others retreat calmly.
In this battle, the A-shaped battalion suffered 80 casualties, but it also killed and injured more than 30 White Tiger Mountain bandits. This was due to the initial attack by rocks. It was considered that the Baihu Mountain bandits truly experienced the Qingzhou official army. How strong is the combat power.
When Kong Liang retreated to the mountain stronghold, his face was already gloomy. Looking at the thousands of officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain, he felt fear for the first time: "If the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain are so good at fighting, can we really hold on?"
At this time, a voice sounded from behind him: "Second brother, don't be as ambitious as others and destroy the majesty of my White Tiger Mountain. We still have a trick to use, and as long as we are given one night to prepare, the rocks can still cause the officers and soldiers to suffer a lot!" However, Kong Ming also came to the village with injuries. It's just that he said it nicely, but there was still deep worry hidden in his eyes. The only thing he could do now was to use these words to boost the morale of the soldiers.
But the subsequent actions of the officers and soldiers proved that their worries were indeed correct. Because just after the A-shaped battalion retreated down the mountain, the drumbeats among the officers and soldiers started again, and the B-shaped battalion launched another attack on Baihu Mountain. And after learning from the experience of the Jiazi Battalion, they acted more cautiously and methodically. They simply placed the shield soldiers in front and slowly advanced upwards with firm steps.
Seeing this, Kong Liang could only grit his teeth and lead his men to kill again to stop the army. But this time the opponent was more targeted. Instead of taking advantage of the location, the more than a hundred brothers he had newly led were lured into the formation and strangled by them in order to retreat, causing heavy casualties.
If Kong Ming hadn't been wounded and killed him to respond, and the sky was getting dark, which made it difficult to attack the mountain, so the officers and soldiers paid money to withdraw their troops again, I'm afraid Kong Liang and the others would have been in danger. But even so, in this battle, the army lost nearly fifty lives to the enemy at the cost of about thirty casualties, which could be regarded as making up for the previous losses...