Wulong Ridge is directly adjacent to the Yangtze River, with cliffs thousands of feet high and stretching for hundreds of miles. It can be said to be the most dangerous pass in the south. And it was on the road that the Song Army must pass directly to Muzhou, the home base of the Wu Army. It became a key point that both armies could not avoid and had to fight to the death. (Um, my memory was confused before and I always wrote Muzhou as Wuzhou. I will correct it here.)
But the towering mountains, the rushing rivers in front of them, and the Leishi pass set up on the only way through the mountains were all daunting to the Song army. Just the water of the Yangtze River in front of the pass is enough for the Song army to pay a high price if they want to cross it. And if they want to break the pass, they will have to pay a price more than a hundred times.
At this time, on the river, hundreds of Wu army ships were shuttled back and forth, truly guarding against the enemy. Inside the Wulongling pass, there were even more swords and guns, and arrows flashing. Tens of thousands of troops were waiting in full formation, daring not to show any cowardice. war.
At the height of Xiongguan, Fang Baibai stared sternly at the Song army that was gathering in front of him, but he showed no fear at all, only a fanatical fighting spirit: "Finally, it's time to use my life that should have been dead long ago." Fight for Your Majesty, for the Kingdom of Wu, and for the brothers who died. This time, even if I am really dead, I will guard the natural barrier of Wulong Ridge and not let any Song army pass by!"
As the most capable and trustworthy person in the Wu army today, Fang Baibai, a younger brother of the Fangla tribe and a general who had made great contributions in the Battle of Hangzhou that day, became the commander-in-chief of Wulongling Pass. Although he was inferior to Fang Shifo in terms of martial prowess and inferior to Pang Wanchun in terms of command, his loyalty to the Wu State was no weaker than that of others.
"Tonight, let the Navy men sneak up and attack first. We must not be passively beaten as before. Also, are the mountain trails guarded by people?" After looking back slightly, , Fang Baibai glanced at several generals around him and said.
These people are also the only loyal people left in Wu's army. They all have serious faces and clasped fists as if they were there. Immediately, a slender officer took the initiative and said: "General, leave this first battle to the humble position. I will lead the clipper to attack along the river, and I will definitely catch them off guard!"
"Okay, Deng Yuanjue, if you have this idea, I will not deny it. But you must remember that you must not get too close recklessly, let alone lead your troops ashore. Your purpose is only to harass, and use rockets more to kill and injure the enemy. main purpose."
"General, I will obey the order!" Deng Yuanjue felt happy and hurriedly clasped his fists to obey the order. There was a bit of envy in the eyes of some other generals. They were all Fang La's confidants who had been guarding his hometown in Muzhou. They had not really experienced a series of wars such as Suzhou and Hangzhou, so they were still a little angry. Thinking that I could turn the tide with just one breath.
But just when they had made a plan and wanted to send people to attack the Song Army camp opposite when it got dark, suddenly a burst of exciting horn sounds sounded from the Song Army formation, followed by drums, and the camp gates were divided. One warship after another has entered the water, heading against the current to kill Wu Jun's water stronghold.
This was indeed beyond the expectations of the Wu army. Who would have thought that the Song army had just arrived in front of Wulong Ridge and had not even rested for a day or two. They actually launched an attack directly.
"Quickly, order the navy to come forward and intercept, we can't let them get the upper hand!
"Fang Baibai was panicked when he saw this, and quickly ordered loudly.
Deng Yuanjue didn't waste any time, and immediately rushed down to Guancheng, shouting and ordering his navy to prepare for battle quickly. For a time, Guancheng was filled with loud gongs, drums, and roars. All the people and horses quickly mobilized to join the Wu army's sailors who were already cruising on the river to block the Song army's water attack.
This is a head-to-head confrontation with almost no tricks at all, and a competition between the two sides in terms of their water fighting capabilities. The armies of Song and Wu all came out with all their warships, and on the waves of the Yangtze River, they began to collide with each other and fight to the death. After the battle only lasted for less than half an hour, the victory or defeat was already decided - the Song army showed an overwhelming advantage in the water battle, killing the Wu army to the point where they were either killed or captured. Some boats jumped into the water to escape, but some ships saw the opportunity quickly and returned to the shore in time. As the Song army continued to pursue, they did not even dare to defend the water stronghold anymore, and hurriedly fled back to the Wulongling Pass behind...
In fact, if it was just an ordinary water battle, although the Song Army relied on San Ruan and other generals who were proficient in water-based water warfare, it was indeed one step ahead of the Wu Army, but it was not enough to be able to crush the enemy's army in a short period of time. However, when the Song army showed weapons that were far more powerful than the Wu army, they had no way to resist.
First came the crossbows. The Song Army already surpassed all enemies in the world in terms of bows and crossbows. The reason why they were able to keep up with the rising Liao Kingdom Xixia in the past hundred years was because they had crossbows with a range far beyond the normal range, especially the Divine Arm Bow. Such a sharp weapon can increase the long-range strike of an individual soldier to the limit.
This time, the arrival of Zhang Shuye and others brought a batch of divine arm bows that the Jiangnan official army did not have before. Now, these divine arm bows have become a good aid for Sun Tu to use in water battles.
Of course, relying only on bows and crossbows still cannot truly determine victory after half an hour. The real key lies in breaking the bullets. At this time, Sun Tu no longer needed to hide and tuck in. At the moment of the first battle, the naval officers followed his instructions and threw hundreds of bombs at the attacker as if they were free of charge. Enemy warships within range.
As a result, the damage to Wu Jun's warships was too great. The loud and explosive sound was simply not something that these Wu soldiers could bear, and it was completely beyond their mental capacity. Even when those gadgets containing iron nails and other sharp weapons exploded among the people on the ship, the sergeants still stood there stupidly, not showing any signs of evading.
As a result, the ships caught fire and the people on board were screaming. Wu Jun's ships lost their ability to resist and were like a group of headless flies walking around on the river. Then they fled in all directions and were completely suppressed and chased by the Song army. In other words, the Song Army's countercurrent fighting speed cannot match that of the enemy. Otherwise, in just one battle, the entire Wu Army navy could be annihilated on the Yangtze River.
But even if some enemy ships were released, the outcome of this battle was already doomed. Wu Jun's water stronghold, which originally had a certain degree of defense, was completely disorganized because it was hit head-on by its own ships that had no choice but to take the opportunity. The Song army's warships rushed in and fell.
When everyone on Guancheng saw this scene, in addition to disbelief, everyone's faces were filled with fear. After a few months, the combat power of the Song Army has been greatly improved.
It was actually stronger than when they were in Hangzhou before, which inevitably made the Wu army soldiers feel panic. Even those who were still complacent before and wanted to turn the tide now swallowed with some difficulty, not knowing what to say. .
In fact, if the Wu army was decisive enough at this time, sent out the garrison in time to rush out, and took advantage of the Song army's unsteady footing to attack head-on, even if it could not severely damage the enemy army that had just come ashore, it would still be able to regain this key water stronghold. If they take it back and then consolidate it, they will still have control over this dangerous spot on the Yangtze River.
However, after seeing the disastrous defeat of the navy ahead, most of the soldiers became timid. Even Fang Baibai, the commander-in-chief, did not dare to take the risk of sending people to fight again, and only sent a small number of troops to respond. In the end, They could only watch helplessly as the Song Army on the other side of the river continued to send reinforcements to the water stronghold and defend it bit by bit, thus giving up the last natural barrier in front of the Wulongling pass.
When it was almost dark, a Song army of 30,000 troops had already appeared around the water stronghold, which was only ten miles away from Guancheng, forming a complete confrontation. Even Sun Tu's large flag was firmly standing there, which meant that the Song Army's commander had also crossed the river.
A burst of uneasiness spread for no reason: "How could it be like this... The Song Army didn't even take a break when they arrived, and they took over our water stronghold in one go... What should we do next?" All The soldiers felt a little confused in their hearts, and many people's eyes fell on Fang Bainian, wondering what his idea was.
After Fang Baibai's face changed for a while, he finally gritted his teeth and gave his opinion: "Hold on. Our Wulong Ridge is high and steep enough, and the Song army cannot attack it at all. As long as we block several of their offensives from a high position, what will happen?" If they cause casualties, they will be unable to sustain themselves and eventually retreat!" At this point, the only countermeasure he could think of was this.
The ensuing war seemed to develop just as he expected. After the next day, the Song Army did send troops and horses to try to launch an attack on the Wulongling Pass. However, in front of this pass that stretched straight into the sky, the tens of thousands of troops really seemed so small. Every wave of their offensives was blocked by defenders. Jun blocked it steadily. Moreover, relying on the geographical advantages here, they also caused a lot of damage to the Song army. In just three days, there were nearly two to three thousand casualties outside, but the enemy could not even build a ladder to the wall.
"Okay, if we keep defending like this, victory will definitely belong to us in the end!" After repelling the Song Army's offensive again, looking at the fallen corpses of the Song Army below and the enemies retreating in embarrassment, Fang Baibai's confidence returned again, loudly encouraging the morale of the army, and even shouted: "As long as I am here at Wulong Ridge, Muzhou in the rear will be as stable as Mount Tai. Unless the Song Army can really grow wings and fly above our heads like a bird." Go over there, otherwise, I, Wulong Ridge, will be the starting point of their failure!"
"We must win! We must win! We must win!" The officers and soldiers of the Wu army also shouted loudly, and their morale returned to its peak. But none of them noticed that something was happening in the Song Army camp where the entire army had crossed the river, and something was slowly rising into the air.
It's a pity that because of the weather, I haven't noticed this even for a hundred years...