Seeing that Tian Boyuan had seen through his own thoughts, Du Changguo simply stopped hiding it and looked at him and said: "General Tian, that Sun Tu is not from Yanmenguan, so what do you and I have to do with his life and death? What's more? , you should have heard that he has made many enemies in the court, Grand Master Cai, Grand Tutor Liang, and Lieutenant Gao all regard him as a thorn in their side and wish they could get rid of him quickly. Do you really want to save him?"
If Tian Boyuan wanted to send troops despite the opponent's threat before because of his respect for Sun Tu, then now, after hearing the names of several powerful officials in the DPRK reported by Du Jianjun, this last bit of courage was gone. It just disappeared. Although he was at the border, he still heard about some things in the DPRK, and he knew that the other party was not alarmist.
It was obvious that Du Changguo was determined to put Sun Tu to death. If he sent troops at all costs, let alone whether he could pass this test, he would not be the only one who would be blamed by the big bosses afterwards. A good general can bear it.
Tian Boyuan wouldn't be afraid if he just took the risk to fight the Liao army, but the threat from the DPRK has frightened him. In the end, he could only ignore his conscience and dare not speak out again. But his body was trembling, his fists were clenched, and the guilt, anger, and helplessness in his heart were intertwined, and he could not calm down for a long time.
Du Changguo on the side saw that he was still silent. Although his expression kept changing, he didn't take it to heart. He just smiled disdainfully and waved his hand at the newly gathered guards: "What are you doing here waiting? Quickly. If we break up, the right thing to do is to guard Yanmen Pass and not let the Liao people take advantage of us."
Although the soldiers were confused, they could only obey the orders at this time. After agreeing, the thousands of people quickly dispersed, and Yanmen Pass returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
When Du Changguo saw this, he even disdained to laugh. Do these warriors really think they can stand up? Even now during the war, even if he is at the border, he, as a civil servant, can still make the decision. As for an outlier like Sun Tu, it would be better to let him die early, preferably at the hands of the Liao people, which would save a lot of hands and feet. Whether this matter will affect the war ahead is completely out of his consideration...
￥￥￥￥￥
Although Sun Tu was in extreme danger at this time, his life was not in danger yet.
One night passed, the sky brightened again, and a new round of offensive by the Liao army at the foot of the mountain began again.
This time, they no longer just threw rocks at the mountain like yesterday, but sent soldiers and horses to follow them during this period. Taking advantage of the fact that the Song army was being beaten by trebuchets on the mountain and was hiding and passive, thousands of cavalry quickly rushed into their firing range, and then shot round after round of arrows up the mountain, continuing to harvest the lives of the Song army. , and then some people took advantage of this suppression and rushed up the mountain with their horses, intending to open a gap in one breath, so that the Song Army would no longer even have the last geographical advantage.
Fortunately, at this time, the Huben army finally showed its most brave and fearless side. Even though arrows kept flying overhead, they still risked their lives and pressed forward under the leadership of Sun Tu and other generals, fighting against the Liao army. A series of fierce battles took place on the edge of the mountain.
Thanks to the Liao army's concerns, they did not throw stones after their own people climbed the mountain and attacked fiercely. This allowed the Song army to breathe a sigh of relief and rely on strong bows and crossbows as backup.
, plus two to three thousand people fighting with all their strength, finally drove this group of enemies down the mountain. Although this battle also killed two to three hundred enemies, the Song army suffered more casualties. In just half a day, five to six hundred people fell. It can be said that the price was heavy.
If it weren't for the sudden call for gold at the foot of the mountain to withdraw troops near noon, I am afraid that this offensive and defensive battle would have caused the Song army's casualties to reach a new high. It wasn't until the enemy retreated down the mountain that the soldiers relaxed a little. Many people even sat down on the ground, breathing heavily. After a long day of hard fighting, they couldn't even feel thirst or hunger at this time. But in fact, these thousands of tiger soldiers are reaching their limits, both physically and mentally, and are not far from collapse.
Many Liao soldiers at the foot of the mountain also saw this, so when Xiao Yanping ordered the retreat, many people still couldn't understand it, and some people raised questions: "General, we can clearly defeat the Song Dynasty in one go. Why do we have to retreat to give them a chance to breathe?"
This sentence immediately won the recognition of many people, and many soldiers set their sights on Xiao Yanping. Orders and prohibitions are one thing, but the concept of dignity within the Liao army is much weaker than that of the Song army. If you have any questions, you dare to ask them face to face.
Xiao Yanping didn't feel dissatisfied. He smiled and pointed at the Song army on the mountain: "They are now at the end of their war effort and have nowhere to go. It is no longer difficult to destroy them. But have you ever thought about it, if the pressure is too much, the remaining Once the three thousand Song troops fight desperately, they will also cause considerable damage to us. Our goal is not just to destroy this Song army, so it is naturally better to preserve our strength and defeat the enemy.
"As long as they calm down and fear in their hearts, their military morale will completely collapse. When we open the way with rocks and arrows in the afternoon, I believe we can defeat them in one battle and leave them no chance to resist!"
Xiao Yanping not only has excellent martial arts and archery skills, but he also has deep experience in the use of soldiers after following Yelu Dashi for many years. He casually said this and immediately won the unanimous support and respect of all his subordinates, and everyone nodded repeatedly. Yes, defeating the enemy at the minimum cost is naturally the best result.
At this time, on the mountain, after seeing the confused, frightened and desperate expressions of the soldiers around him, Sun Tu quickly understood the sinister intentions of the enemy below. At the same time, I felt regretful. After all, I had underestimated the Liao army's combat power and overestimated the strength of the Huben army.
He thought he could hold on for another day with the help of the terrain, and perhaps reinforcements would arrive by then. But the current Tiger and Ben Army obviously can no longer do it. Because in a sense, this Tiger and Ben army is just a new recruit who has just entered the battlefield, and then they have to fight head-on with the elite of the Liao army without any psychological preparation. For them, such a blow is comparable to the wounds on their body. Even scarier.
Of course, if these soldiers can survive this battle and learn the lessons from this battle, then they will become truly elite veterans when the next war starts. But, will the enemy give them such an opportunity again
Sun Tu glanced down the mountain and saw smoke rising from the Liao army's formation several miles away. Obviously, when they were full and full, they would attack again. And by then, will the soldiers around them still have the courage to resist the bloody battle
We can no longer cede the initiative to the enemy! Sun Tu gritted his teeth.
A decision was made. I was indeed too optimistic before and made a mistake. I should have taken the initiative earlier and tried to destroy these trebuchets. And now, it's the last chance.
"Zheng Ping!" As Sun Tu shouted, an officer who replaced Tang Feng as the guard captain came over. Although he was injured, his waist was still as straight as a gun, and a light flashed in his eyes.
"How many of our Qingzhou Army brothers are still capable of fighting?" Sun Tu asked in a low voice as he glanced at the top of the mountain.
"Go back to the general, there are still one hundred and twenty people who can fight."
This time, a total of 300 Qingzhou troops followed Sun Tu north, and most of them were gone in just one battle. But Sun Tu couldn't care less about his physical pain at this time, and immediately said: "Calling everyone together, let them prepare more torches in addition to weapons and crossbows. Later, follow me down the mountain and burn the trebuchets."
Sun Tu gave the order calmly, and Zheng Ping's reply was straightforward: "Here!" After Chashou agreed, he quickly retreated and went to the back to order all the troops. At this time, these veterans of the Qingzhou Army had fire in their eyes and were full of energy. This time, they could finally fight with General Sun again. This was much more refreshing than being passively beaten before. Even if they died, there would be no regrets.
The movements here have not been noticed by many officers and soldiers of the Huben Army. Their morale was already extremely low at this time. Some were muttering to themselves that they were dead, while others were looking left and right, wondering if they could take the opportunity to escape from this place. Some even had the idea of surrendering to the Liao people. The morale of the army has almost collapsed at this moment. As Xiao Yanping said, as long as he fires rocks and arrows again, he can easily defeat the enemy.
After all, the Huben Army followed Sun Tu for too short a time. Although they have the appearance of an elite soldier, they do not have the spirit and soul of an elite soldier!
Only Cao Yan and a few other generals noticed Sun Tu's intention. At that moment, they also stumbled forward: "General, do you want to go down the mountain and give it a try?"
"Yes, only by destroying their trebuchets can we have a chance of survival. I made a mistake in my judgment before, which put everyone in a desperate situation." Sun Tu admitted his mistake with a wry smile.
This can be said to be a rare mistake that Sun Tu has made since he joined the army. However, the price of this mistake may be the annihilation of the entire army, and even his own life will be at stake. The only thing he could do was to try his best to see if he could make amends.
"General, why don't you let the last general go on your behalf? This battle is dangerous. You are the commander-in-chief of the army. If there is someone good or bad..." Cao Yan hurriedly advised. At the same time, Wei Cheng and others also said the same thing, and they all wanted to Replace Sun Tu.
But Sun Tu shook his head and rejected the request: "The matter has come to this, we only have one chance. And I believe that in terms of charging into battle, none of you can compare to me, Sun Tu. Okay, time is running out, don't say more, you have to All you have to do is lead people to stay on the mountain and watch me turn things around!"
As Sun Tu said this, he quickly turned around and joined Zheng Pingping, an old subordinate of the Qingzhou Army. They led the horses and rode quickly. When they came to the mountainside, they climbed on their horses almost at the same time. Amidst the shouts, more than a hundred horsemen were sprinting at the same time, like a rushing wave, heading straight towards the Liao army a few hundred steps away. Kill in the front line.
At this moment, Xiao Yanping, who was drinking water from a skin bag, changed his expression. He was already sitting up from the ground, but he was shocked by this sprint!