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Dozens of Dashi troops walked onto the pontoon bridge cautiously, and the more than 100,000 troops behind them were silent, holding their breath and watching. Everyone knew that if they could cross the river, they would escape. If they couldn't cross the river, more than 100,000 people would starve to death without anyone fighting.
Qin Mu actually kept such a floating bridge that was related to victory or defeat, and the lives of more than 100,000 people. Everyone knew that there must be a mystery in it, but they all had a fluke, hoping that there was really no problem with the floating bridge so that they could cross the river safely. The most heartbreaking thing was the fear of gain and loss.
The big black flag at the north end of the bridge was still fluttering in the wind, looking so mysterious and cold.
On the river, the leaf boat had already moved towards the north bank and stopped under a tall willow tree.
The Liuyang River originates from the northern foot of Dawei Mountain, and along the way it passes through forests and ravines, winding and whirling, with waves rolling up and down. The two banks are surrounded by beautiful peaks like screens, deep forests and ravines, and the scenery is charming. But now, only the north bank can be considered as beautiful;
The mountains within a radius of 20 to 30 miles on the south bank have almost been burned down, and the flames can still be seen spreading in the distance. It is likely that there will be no wood to build a bridge nearby. More than 100,000 Dashi troops are relying on this pontoon bridge to cross the river.
The dozens of Dashi soldiers walked to the middle of the pontoon bridge in fear. The few people in the front suddenly cried out as if they had seen a ghost, and retreated one after another.
The captain leading the team shouted, "Why are you panicking? What's going on?"
"Kerosene... Kerosene, pour kerosene all over this side..."
The centurion rushed forward and saw that the north side of the floating bridge was indeed covered with kerosene. If it encountered an open flame, it would probably catch fire immediately and be difficult to put out. He sent someone back to the south bank to report to Zhang Xianzhong, and at the same time, he led his men to speed up and run to the north bank. After a brief inspection, he found that there was a lot of kerosene in the bushes near the north end of the bridge. After careful inspection, he could even see a lot of fuses extending into the ground. He must have buried explosives underground... ... ... ..
Oh my god! This is clearly a deadly place. Once it explodes, there will be no intact body left. The dozens of Dashi soldiers who came to check were so frightened that they fled back to the south bank.
At this time, apart from the small boat, there was still no one to be seen on the north bank. It was frighteningly quiet and filled with a weird feeling.
Qin Mu took off his bamboo hat and said with a smile, "My lady, your song "Liuyang River" scared away 100,000 soldiers. It will be passed down as a legend for all eternity!"
Hong Niangzi had long experienced how rogue Qin Mu was, and the more he called her "wife", the more comfortable she became. Hong Niangzi couldn't really kill him, and every time you got angry, he would change his words, and then it would become "wife" again.
"Have they retired? Stop flattering yourself. They have already crossed the river."
"Huh. There are really some people who are not afraid of death. My lady, please go." Qin Mu said as he took Hong Niangzi ashore and soon disappeared on the north bank.
This floating bridge was the only hope for the Dashi Army to cross the river. They had little food and grass left. If they could not cross the river, the army would collapse. At this point, even if there were mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to give it a try.
At his command, Yin Xianmin, the former general of Huguang, led more than 10,000 troops to rush onto the floating bridge. At this moment, drums and gongs sounded in the north, black flags were erected, and teams of Qin troops quickly appeared on the north bank as if emerging from the ground. Everyone's face was painted with black oil paint, looking ferocious and fierce, which made people feel terrified.
Yin Xianmin led his men and horses to rush across the floating bridge, and Liu Meng led 500 veterans from Ganzhou to rush up immediately, in order to give the Dashi army a warning. The 500 men used their shields as a wall and marched to the bridge head with clanging steps. For a moment, swords and spears were like a forest, and the sound of killing was deafening.
The Dashi Army that rushed across the bridge were forced to retreat. They were either hacked to death or forced into the river. The pontoon bridge was crowded with Dashi Army soldiers, who could not rush ashore and could only watch their comrades in front of them fall down one after another.
The five hundred Qin soldiers were like a meat grinder across the north bank of the floating bridge, and the Dashi soldiers rushing over from the floating bridge were like strips of meat thrown into a meat grinder, one batch after another was crushed to death, and soon the bridgehead was filled with corpses. The clear Liuyang River was gradually dyed red with blood, becoming a red river.
Under Zhang Xianzhong's strict order, no matter how many soldiers of the Dashi Army fell in front, they continued to rush to the north bank regardless of casualties. The shouts, fighting, collisions, and war drums made both sides of the Liuyang River boil.
The Dashi Army on the pontoon bridge could not directly participate in the battle, so they used bows and arrows to shoot, but the casualties caused to the Qin Army were extremely limited. The corpses on the bridgehead were piled up layer upon layer, making it difficult to even stand. The 500 Qin soldiers then began to slowly retreat, leaving more space, so that more Dashi Army could rush ashore, greatly boosting their morale.
Zhang Xianzhong was still worried. He saw that there were less than a thousand troops rushing to the north bank, and the Qin army had only deployed 500 people to fight. There were still more than 10,000 troops who had not joined the fierce battle. Moreover, the reality that kerosene had been poured on the pontoon bridge was like a needle piercing his heart. The only way now was to let more troops rush over and fight with the Qin army. In this way, even if the Qin army wanted to detonate the buried explosives, they would not be able to do so.
"Charge, charge quickly!" Zhang Xianzhong shouted while beating the drum himself to cheer for the front army.
More and more Dashi troops rushed across the pontoon bridge, from three thousand to five thousand, and from five thousand to ten thousand, while the Qin army retreated further and further. Under the command of Yin Xianmin, most of the Dashi troops rushed forward to fight with the Qin army, while some of them dug near the bridge head to dig up the explosives buried by the Qin army. But when they dug them up, they found that there was either nothing underneath, or there were jars of poisonous snakes, and only a very small number of them were real explosives.
The Dashi Army who dug out the poisonous snakes were in a miserable state. After being bitten, they threw away the jar. After the jar broke with a snap, poisonous snakes swarmed all over the ground, scaring others so much that they screamed and ran away, causing chaos.
At this moment, the Qin army lowered twenty or thirty fireboats from upstream, which floated down the water like huge torches.
"Hurry up and hold the fireboats, hurry up and stop them..." The generals of the Dashi Army on the floating bridge shouted in fear, but how to stop so many fireboats? Although there were many good swimmers in the Dashi Army, the whole ship was a huge fireball and could not be approached at all, no matter how good the swimmers were.
The fireboat soon crashed into the floating bridge with the flow of water. The Dashi soldiers on the floating bridge were forced to jump into the water for their lives by the scorching flames. The surface of the river downstream instantly became like dumplings. Those who knew how to swim were fine, but those who couldn't were doomed to drown in the river.
What Zhang Xianzhong was most worried about happened. The floating bridge was originally doused with kerosene, and was instantly ignited by the fireboat that hit it. It was like a fire dragon lying across the river, which was a shocking sight. The faces of the more than 10,000 rebels who rushed across the north bank were pale. Their connection with the south bank was cut off, and they were doomed.
"Charge, charge, or we will all die here." Yin Xianmin, who led more than 10,000 horses to the north bank, shouted and led the charge towards the Qin army, but the fire had already spread to the shore;
The bushes near the bridgehead on the north bank were also covered with kerosene, which now began to burn fiercely, occasionally setting off the explosives buried underground. The rumbling explosions continued, and many of the Dashi soldiers' clothes were set on fire, turning them into firemen. They screamed and rolled on the ground, trying to put out the flames on their bodies. Some rushed into the river to put out the fire with river water, and some were blown into the air, with their limbs flying.
The rebels separated by the fire on the south bank watched the tragic scene on the north bank, just like standing in heaven and looking at hell. Waves of barbecue aroma wafted from the north bank, and the extremely tragic scene made people tremble with fear and chill their livers and livers.
Zhang Xianzhong knew from the beginning that this floating bridge was a cup of poison, but he was like a thirsty man who knew that the poison in front of him was poison, but he still couldn't help but drink it in one gulp;
Now the poison had taken effect, and the deaths were tragic, too tragic. More than 10,000 soldiers were either burned to death, blown to death, or captured by the Qin army. The head of Yin Xianmin, the former general of Huguang, was soon hung on a bamboo pole and erected on the north bank. The Dashi army on the south bank saw this, and a feeling of grief for the loss of the rabbit filled everyone's heart... ... ... .
This battle was like a heavy blow to the 100,000 Dashi troops, shattering any hope they had in their hearts and causing Zhang Xianzhong great pain.
"Qin Mu, I, Zhang Xianzhong, will not be a human being if I don't kill you." Endless anger burned in Zhang Xianzhong's heart, and he shouted, "Dingguo, immediately select all the soldiers in the army who can swim, and swim across the north bank in several groups under the cover of darkness tonight."
"Yes, father."
"Li Zhaoguang, send someone to find wood immediately. After Dingguo goes ashore to contain the enemy, rebuild the pontoon bridge as soon as possible."
Li Zhaoguang looked around in confusion. Qin Mu was ruthless. He set fires everywhere. The area within 20 to 30 miles around was completely burned. He said hesitantly, "My king..."
"Hmm? Do you want to disobey orders? Send someone to look for it quickly. No matter how big the fire is, it's impossible to burn all the wood. Go find it quickly!"
"Yes, my king."
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ps: Dear brothers, please support me with monthly tickets. To deal with Zhang Xianzhong, we need firepower support!
.(To be continued..)
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