Chapter 901: Strange Victory Determines Strange Strategy

Dongcheng Wall of the Love Shenjing.

Following Shi Ding's order, three thousand archers who were ready to go shot arrows toward the outer side of Shejia Dirt Hill.

Every time the bowstrings vibrated in unison, three thousand arrows were shot out, and the sky above the dirt hill was covered by dense rain of arrows.

These rain of arrows did not seek accuracy; their main role was to harass and block the enemy, disrupting the remnant Mongol cavalry's arrow rain attack, and also causing certain casualties.

Borrowing the cover of the arrow rain on the city wall, the sound of hooves on the mountain road behind the dirt hill shook, and more than a thousand firearm cavalry came out one after another, flying toward the north close to the city wall.

The remnant Mongol cavalry quickly noticed, many cavalry shouted and called, Man Hai discovered the strange army protruding behind the dirt hill, and ordered the cavalry under his command to pursue immediately.

The cavalry main army that had retreated and counterattacked just now, because of the hasty adjustment of the response actions, the cavalry team could not avoid appearing chaotic, and actually could not pursue in time.

On the city wall, Shi Ding closely watched the battle situation, and seeing the remnant Mongol cavalry slightly slow down, the thousand-plus firearm cavalry seized the opportunity and galloped to meet up with Jia Cong's vanguard.

Shi Ding shouted in a deep voice, "Archers, move forward, cover the outer side of the Love Shenjing Battalion cavalry with arrow rain, block the enemy's pursuit, and let the firearm army retreat quickly!"

Following Shi Ding's order, three thousand archers on the city wall ran forward in formation, all the way to the northeast city corner, re-formed into a cluster, and shot arrows in groups.

The thousand-plus firearm cavalry under the city seemed to have received instructions early, always sticking close to the city wall, so that their own cavalry was always within the protection range of the arrow rain on the city wall.

Looking down from the city wall, the outer ten-zhang range of the thousand-plus firearm cavalry's advance route was all densely covered by the arrow rain on the city wall.

Once the remnant Mongol cavalry approached the pursuit, they would be volleyed by the arrow rain on the city wall.

After losing more than a hundred cavalry, the remnant Mongol cavalry team maintained the direction of pursuit, but dared not easily approach the firearm cavalry team.

The battlefield has always been changing rapidly. As long as one side seizes a slight opportunity, it can effectively expand into an advantage, and even determine the final victory or defeat of the battle.

The three thousand archers on the city wall, under Shi Ding's command, cooperated tacitly with the one thousand seven hundred gun cavalry under the city, blocking the remnant Mongol cavalry team's pursuit.

The thousand-plus firearm cavalry left the city wall range, the arrow rain on the city wall still followed and protected, the cavalry team retreated in an arc to the right, and pulled away from the pursuing cavalry team again.

Man Hai watched Jia Cong lead three hundred cavalry, still fleeing to the northwest, while another thousand-plus firearm cavalry seemed to be retreating in a different direction.

The Assistant Regional Commander beside him said, "Second Prince, now they are fleeing in two directions. Which one should we chase, or should we split into two troops to pursue?

The end general thinks Jia Cong's use of troops is too strange and cunning. We were already a surprise attack, and in a situation without defense, he actually ambushed troops on the dirt hill in advance.

Since he would ambush in one place, wouldn't he ambush in another place? The end general thinks for the sake of stability, it is better to stop here and return, and wait for the opportunity."

Man Hai frowned and said, "Stop and return? You speak lightly. This battle has already lost two thousand-man teams. Do you want the blood of the Mongol warriors to flow in vain!

Jia Cong's use of troops is indeed cunning, but his tricks end here. The ten-plus li ahead are all plains, at a glance, and there is no dirt hill for him to ambush.

Moreover, in the two encounters, I discovered the drawbacks of the Great Zhou's firearms. The loading of bullets is very cumbersome, so they have to use three-row consecutive shots to make up for it.

Every time we return to counterattack, these firearm soldiers will immediately retreat, not daring to confront the Mongol iron cavalry head-on. Do you know the reason?

Because Jia Cong knows very well that although firearms are powerful, the speed of firearm firing is far less than the speed of the Mongol iron cavalry's bows and fast horses.

So his firearm soldiers only know how to attack and sneak attack. As long as we reorganize and counterattack, they will immediately flee, which is quite shameless and cunning.

And I also discovered another fatal weakness of theirs. After the firearm soldiers mount their horses, they can no longer fire. No matter how powerful the firearms are, they are just burning sticks.

Now they are fleeing in two directions, just to confuse the public and take the opportunity to escape our pursuit.

The firearms on horseback have completely lost their power. Now is the time when their strength is weakest. We must not give up halfway and miss this opportunity for annihilation.

And our army's attack this time has already exposed the traces of the main army. The Great Zhou will surely mobilize troops to attack from all sides and block them. It will be increasingly difficult to gain a foothold.

If we miss the opportunity before us, and gain nothing from this expedition, losing nearly three thousand-man teams, how can we face the soldiers, how can we explain to my Great Khan?

Don't worry about that thousand-man cavalry team; that is Jia Cong confusing the public. We only chase his three hundred cavalry, and those five big carriages.

Two encounters with firearm attacks, our army suffered such heavy casualties. The Great Zhou's firearms are well-deserved. We must capture Jia Cong and those five carriages of firearms.

If Jia Cong is allowed to escape back to the North Three Passes this time and use these firearms to confront the Great Khan's main army, it will surely be a serious trouble for our Mongol's great cause of going south.

Now, with only three hundred cavalry, they have lost the benefit of firearms. This is exactly when Jia Cong is weakest. No matter how cunning he is, he cannot turn the sky!

Their warhorses have galloped for several li, and their horse power will surely fade slowly. As long as we can capture Jia Cong alive, all the prices we paid are worth it."

The Assistant Regional Commander heard Man Hai's words and felt it made great sense. Eighteen thousand cavalry chasing three hundred cavalry—what could go wrong?

And Second Prince was right. The firearm cavalry on horseback lost the benefit of firearms, just like a wolf with its fangs pulled out, simply unable to withstand a single blow.

The slight doubt he had in his heart vanished immediately after hearing Man Hai's words, and he passed down the military order to the whole team to pursue the direction of Jia Cong's flight...

On the east city wall of the Love Shenjing, Shi Ding looked into the distance with a telescope. Assistant Regional Commander Wang Lin said, "Commander, the remnant Mongol main army gave up pursuing the thousand-plus firearm cavalry.

All troops are pursuing the Count of Lord Weiyuan. He only has three hundred cavalry guards. Firearms lose their power once mounted. If he falls into the enemy formation, it will be dangerous.

Commander, such a good general as the Count of Lord Weiyuan is the leader of the Great Zhou military. If he suffers damage because of this, it would be a pity. Should we send troops to reinforce?"

Shi Ding said, "The warhorses allocated to the Count of Lord Weiyuan by the Ministry of War were carefully selected from the Love Shenjing and the surrounding four prefectures, and all of them are first-class warhorses. Their horse power is very strong.

You all saw with your own eyes how the Count of Lord Weiyuan operated the cavalry with courage and agility just now. I believe that within these twenty li, he will definitely not fall into the enemy formation.

These days, he has shot several arrow letters into the city to discuss how to deal with the enemy with me. Until now, all the battle dynamics have not deviated from his planning.

I believe he must have reached the last step. If this battle can be won, the war against the Mongols can take the initiative, and perhaps the final victory can be determined!"

Wang Lin and other generals heard this, and they were all surprised in their hearts. No wonder the Commander dealt with the battle outside the city calmly and never acted rashly.

It turned out that he had already planned with the Count of Lord Weiyuan. Wang Lin thought of Shi Ding's order a few days ago to select five thousand cavalry from the Five Military Camps, all of whom were good at shooting.

It turned out they were all used in today's battle. It was just that the remnant Mongol surprise attack, the Count of Lord Weiyuan seemed to be responding in a hurry—was all this planned in advance?

The same thought was not only Wang Lin, but all the generals present had the same thought. Planning the battle to this extent could no longer be explained by simply knowing military affairs.

This young family head of the Rongguo Jia family was probably close to the category of a genius, which was truly somewhat frightening.

Shi Ding said, "Wait another quarter of an hour, and I will lead the five thousand selected elite cavalry to reinforce the city myself. The defense of the Nine Gates will be commanded by the Central Army Assistant Regional Commander Wang Lin."

During the time I go out of the city to reinforce, closely watch the movements of Wuwu Town. The remnant Mongols have two thousand elite cavalry stationed there, they must have left people to guard the grain and materials..."

Northwest of the Love Shenjing, on the vast wasteland, ten thousand horses galloped, the sound of hooves like thunder, the momentum was shocking.

Two groups of people galloped wildly, chasing each other. The dense sound of hooves was urgent and dull, seemingly able to shake the world.

It was just that the number of the two groups of people was too disparate. Jia Cong led three hundred cavalry, while the pursuing cavalry behind him numbered more than ten thousand.

But this pursuit with disparate numbers was evenly matched, and it was strange inside and out, just like a piece of bait, followed by a crazy school of fish.

Jia Cong discovered the enemy situation during the march and led the whole army to return. He had passed through these places and deliberately paid attention to the details of the terrain and landforms along the way.

Although most of the way was plains, there were also various terrains such as highlands, low-lying areas, grasslands, stone beaches, and mudflats.

Some places were convenient for hundreds of cavalry to gallop, but if thousands or ten thousand cavalry wanted to swarm through, it would inevitably become a huge obstacle.

Jia Cong deliberately chose terrain along the way that was convenient for small groups of cavalry to gallop but unfavorable for large cavalry teams, always maintaining the distance of the two armies' pursuit.

Such a stalemate pursuit was not only a test of their own horse power, but also a test of wisdom and patience.

As long as Jia Cong's calculation had a slight deviation, the three hundred cavalry team would fall into the enemy formation, leading to the end of the whole army's destruction.

When he led the team to rush over a narrow highland stone beach and finally saw the low and gentle hillside not far away, he couldn't help but smile on his face.

Jia Cong shouted, "Jiang Xiao Liu, immediately abandon those five big carriages and speed up to rush behind the hillside!" ===== CHAPTER 902 =====