Chapter 286

Xichangkou is a huge mountain col formed by two mountains, and it is only 180 miles away from Yafu Pass in Liaodong.

On a hillside to one side, several capable men were crawling in the snow.

These people wore animal-skin warm hats, thick leggings on their legs, and Goose-Quill Sabers commonly used by Great Zhou soldiers at their waists.

Since the forward military stations of the various Liaodong passes were abandoned, the Liaodong army had sent out multiple scout teams to patrol for enemy movements within a hundred miles of each pass, filling the gap left by the withdrawal of the military forts.

And this scout team, having lost their way on a snowy night, accidentally advanced to two hundred miles away from Yafu Pass and discovered the movements of the various Jurchen tribes in this mountain col called Xichangkou.

Through the sparse, withered yellow shrubs, they saw countless troops pouring out of the huge valley mouth below like a flood, a pitch-black mass, galloping toward Yafu Pass.

The faces of the several Great Zhou scouts changed drastically, and they hurriedly retreated quietly, found their horses in the woods, bypassed the mountain ridge, and ran wildly toward Yafu Pass.

Even if they rushed back to report, compared to the speed of the Jurchen cavalry, they would arrive at most half an hour earlier.

The various border areas of Liaodong were once again on high alert, closing the passes and holding firm, leaving the Jurchen tribes with no trace to follow.

Because of this reason, this uncle and nephew had not stopped fighting openly and secretly for the past ten years, while the cunning Li Manzhu had always watched from the sidelines.

Among the surging troops, the three people riding in the front were dressed in expensive clothes, riding top-notch horses, and guarded by hundreds of personal guards.

But the contradictions between them would not disappear completely because of this, they were just hidden and not triggered.

And the Great Zhou's continued strict control over border trade with the Jurchen tribes—if it weren't for these external factors, the Jurchen Three Guards, who were harmonious on the surface but discordant in heart, might not have twisted into a combined force.

The person to the right of Dong Shan was tall and thin, with a full beard, his eyes revealing a sinister and murderous air; this person was Fan Ercha, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Jurchen Right Guard.

This was the consensus reached by the leaders of the Jurchen Three Guards under such harsh and dire circumstances.

In those years, Dong Shan's father was the leader of the Jurchen Left Guard. After Dong Shan's father died, Fan Ercha and his nephew Dong Shan fought fiercely to seize the position of Left Guard Commissioner.

Since the Zhou army abandoned and withdrew the military forts, the various Jurchen tribes lost the easiest way to plunder grain and grass.

If they didn't want to sit and wait for death, they had to break the deadlock, stake everything on one throw, and choose a point to break through with heavy troops.

The person in the middle was burly, with a rough face and an unruly air, exuding an unyielding, brave spirit.

If it weren't for the fact that last year, Korea, in order to suppress the various Jurchen tribes, completely leaned toward the Great Zhou and closed the Qingyuan Market on the border between Jianzhou and Korea, causing the various Jurchen tribes to lose an important channel for obtaining materials.

Fan Ercha was Dong Shan's own uncle, but the uncle and nephew had always been at odds.

At that time, the Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, who had ascended the throne for a few years, used the strategy of 'driving wolves to swallow tigers', set up the Jurchen Right Guard, and appointed Fan Ercha as the Regional Military Commissioner of the Right Guard.

Whenever there was a famine in the wilderness, the various Jurchen tribes would go south to plunder the borders, burning and killing, and tens of thousands of Han people died under the Jurchen butcher's knife.

The three of them were all hereditary Jurchen nobles, receiving official titles and golden seals from the Great Zhou for generations. At the same time, the Great Zhou also exercised control over them. For many years, there had been constant fighting and mutual containment among the Three Guards.

This person was Dong Shan, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Jurchen Left Guard. Among the leaders of the Three Guards, he was the youngest, but his strength was the most powerful; he was brave, skilled in martial arts, and a famous warrior among the Jurchens.

To his left was Li Manzhu, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Jurchen Guard, with graying hair and a somewhat weary expression. Among the leaders of the Three Guards, he was the oldest, with the most seniority, and was deep and resourceful.

Under the ravages of the long and harsh winter in Liaodong, countless old, weak, and sick tribesmen died of cold and hunger.

But these fierce and stubborn tribes growing up between the White Mountains and Black Waters still grew wildly, deriving considerable power over the past hundred years.

This time, the Jurchen Three Guards almost came out in full force, gathering four thousand elite cavalry, three thousand infantry, and one thousand auxiliary troops.

Accompanying them were also a large group of cattle and sheep as military rations, which was also the last family fortune that the Jurchen Three Guards had scraped together.

Scouts sent by Li Manzhu reported that grain and materials sent from Guangning City to Yafu Pass were piled up like mountains, while the garrison at Yafu Pass was less than three thousand.

And the Jurchens had not raided for nearly a month, so the Zhou people must have relaxed and become slack; it was just the time to launch a surprise attack...

If this battle was unsuccessful, they would have to kill their horses for food on the way back, and what awaited them would be a predicament even more difficult than the long winter.

After Jia Cong returned from outside the city with Through Ai Li, he reported the news of the enemy's movements to Commandant Liu Yongzheng of the pass.

Liu Yongzheng had been in Liaodong for a long time and had also heard the legend of the Gyrfalcon, but a legend was just a legend, and he was still somewhat skeptical about a bird being able to scout for enemy movements.

However, he was quite convinced by Jia Cong; this young man was full of talent, proficient in firearms, deeply versed in military strategy, and very diligent in his conduct.

The idea of withdrawing the military forts was proposed by him to Commander Liang, and it achieved excellent results. Commander Liang valued this person highly and even transferred him from the Nine Provinces Commander Gu to be a firearm advisor.

And he took the initiative to go out of the city to check for news early this morning, which Liu Yongzheng also knew, and even sent him twenty cavalry guards. He believed that Jia Cong would never speak without cause.

And since the withdrawal of the military forts, the Jurchens were in a predicament due to the harsh winter, and the Liaodong war was in a delicate and urgent state. To be on the safe side, it was better to believe it existed than to believe it didn't.

Although Yafu Pass had an important geographical location and was the only way to communicate between inside and outside the pass, it was not a majestic city like Guangning that could station a hundred thousand troops.

Stationing three thousand troops here was already the limit. If the Jurchens came in large numbers, if preparations for reserve troops and grain were not made early, the hidden risks would be unpredictable.

So Liu Yongzheng immediately ordered the Yafu Pass garrison to prepare for battle and sent someone on a fast horse to chase back Liang Chengzong, who had gone to Yunding Pass for inspection this morning.

Yafu Pass, on the watchtower, Jia Cong, Liu Yongzheng, and others accompanied Liang Chengzong to inspect the city's defense and military preparations.

Regarding the information about the Jurchen invasion brought back by Jia Cong, Liang Chengzong and Liu Yongzheng held the same attitude: be on the safe side.

Liang Chengzong even mobilized some troops from the nearby Yonglan Pass to reinforce them.

And this morning, several scout cavalry teams returned to the city. Although they didn't scout any enemy situation, two scout teams didn't return on time.

The result was nothing more than two possibilities: one was a delay on the way, and the other was encountering enemy cavalry and being annihilated.

And these elite, experienced scouts generally wouldn't have the first situation; it was more likely they encountered the enemy, which could also indirectly verify the accuracy of Jia Cong's information.

On the watchtower, eight Frankish cannons were lined up, the pitch-black muzzles facing the vast wilderness outside the city wall, exuding a silent air of slaughter.

Madelun, the instructor for the Frankish cannons, was adjusting the best firing angle for each cannon and pointing out relevant techniques and tips to the artillery soldiers.

Jia Cong saw a rare look of excitement on Madelun's face; it seemed that the upcoming great battle didn't make him feel nervous at all.

Perhaps for an artillery expert, only when the artillery fire was fired accurately was it the most gorgeous highlight of his life.

Jia Cong had fully communicated with Madelun on weekdays, and he was also very clear about his intention of setting markers outside the city.

He believed that as long as he provided him with the best timing, Madelun could exert the power of the artillery to the extreme.

This wasn't because Madelun wanted to help the Great Zhou win this battle, but out of the technical instinct of a Frankish artillery expert.

At this moment, Jia Cong's gaze was cast on two small catapults on the east side of the city wall. He had asked Liu Yongzheng, and these two catapults could throw the farthest five hundred meters.

Liang Chengzong stroked the cold cannon body; that day in the suburbs of Guangning City, he witnessed with his own eyes the power of the Frankish cannons firing three rounds in succession.

This kind of rapid-fire artillery had a subversive suppression effect on large groups of cavalry and infantry, and he already had considerable confidence in the upcoming battle results.

He said to Jia Cong: "Yuzhang is the number one person in Great Zhou's firearm industry. Whether the Jurchens can be annihilated under the city wall, I will rely on the power of your firearms!"

Jia Cong said: "Commander, the Jurchens have already experienced the sharpness of the musketeer formation, so this time they must be prepared. Within two hundred paces of approaching the musketeer formation, they will definitely be even more cautious.

To defeat the Jurchens in this battle, the power of artillery is crucial. Although the artillery range can reach a thousand paces, the strongest lethality is within a thousand paces.

If the Jurchen large group comes to invade, we must lead an army to meet the enemy and feign an attack, luring the Jurchens into a battle under the city wall, so that we can exert the power of firearms such as artillery, porcelain mines, and muskets.

In addition, we need to lead another army to outflank their rear, strike their center, and achieve full success..."

In the Firearm Battalion, hundreds of musketeers were lined up. These were soldiers with strong arm strength selected by Jia Cong after he was appointed as a firearm advisor, and they were trained in grenade throwing.

Guo Zhigui and Jiang Xiao Si were surrounded by many wooden boxes, inside which were the porcelain mines transported to Liaodong this time...

(End of chapter)