Chapter 335: Mules and Horses Are Not Human

In order to defeat the Black Mountain Army, Yuan Xi planned for a long time and naturally would not ignore any possible details.

But Yuan Xi was not without mistakes. He also ignored factors outside of himself, which led to misjudgment.

That is, Yuan Shang did not send troops to Heishan to grab the credit, but turned around to attack Zang Hong.

Although Yuan Xi knew about this unexpected event, he could not change his plan because it would be difficult to do anything if he took all the unexpected events into account.

In this way, the Montenegrin Army was under much less pressure and chose to move north, so Yuan Xi had no choice but to confront the Montenegrin Army head-on.

He still couldn't understand why Yuan Shang would personally lead his troops to suppress the insignificant Dongwuyang even if Zang Hong rebelled, instead of choosing to occupy the Heishan Pass, which was extremely important for entering Bingzhou.

Although Yuan Shang is a bad person, is he the kind of person who cannot distinguish between the important and the unimportant?

At this moment, Yuan Xi put this question behind his mind for the time being. He was listening to Guo Jia talking about how to defeat the Black Mountain Army's vanguard.

Yuan Xi led his men to lure Yang Feng away, while Tian Yu led more than 2,000 people to defend the important road. The Black Mountain Army also remained motionless, waiting for Yang Feng to come back and then annihilate Tian Yu's army.

But as soon as Yuan Xi left, Guo Jia, who was preparing in Beixin City, received the news and began to act.

The mules and horses that Yuan Xi had used for the forced march had already returned to Beixin City and began to carry large amounts of baggage.

Siege Engines.

These instruments were secretly made by Yuan Xi when Ju Shou and Xu You took office together.

These things were much smaller than ordinary siege weapons, and of course their power was much lower. Ju Shou and Xu You didn't understand why at the time, but they still made them honestly and hid them in Beixin City.

Although these machines are not large, there are quite a few of them. If there had not been many craftsmen among the refugees in Beixin City, Yuan Xi might not have been able to complete them by the time he returned.

When Yuan Xi was about to leave, he sent a message to Guo Jia, so Beixincheng mobilized most of the labor force, and transported the engineering equipment into Heishan day and night to the place where the two armies were confronting.

When the assembly started, everyone began to realize that these small devices were specially designed for the complex terrain in the mountains!

Because of its small size, the catapult can be set up on a hillside.

It is very narrow but has large wheels, making it suitable for pushing a ram up mountain roads.

It's like a watchtower with only two legs but can be placed diagonally on the tree trunk.

Everything is for fighting in the mountains!

Also coming along were thousands of laborers who were able to operate the equipment.

The combined strength of these people and Tian Yu's troops achieved an effect of one plus one being greater than two, so hundreds of catapults and cloud towers were set up and bombarded the Black Mountain army camp.

The Black Mountain Army was hesitant at first and slowed down their offensive, but they found that the Youzhou Army did not stop its offensive at night!

After being harassed all night, they endured their sleepiness and launched an angry counterattack the next morning.

Although the Black Mountain Army had a large number of troops, the narrow mountain roads and steep slopes made it impossible for them to maneuver. Instead, they were blocked by the well-equipped Youzhou Army's camp fortifications. Flying rocks and battering rams continuously hit the Black Mountain Army's formation, causing heavy casualties.

The Black Mountain Army no longer had Yang Feng in command, and Dahong, who loved to charge into battle, was also dead. After a day of attack, they made no progress and instead suffered heavy casualties, so they were forced to retreat.

The leaders of the Black Mountain Army had not slept well the night before, and they fought all day the next day, so naturally everyone was tired. They thought the Youzhou Army was the same, so both sides should have a good rest at night, right?

As a result, that night, the leader of the Montenegrin army was attacked by fire bombs thrown by catapults, and the camp was full of flames.

Fortunately, there were several streams in the Black Mountain military camp. By the time the soldiers had put out the fire, it was already dawn and everyone was exhausted.

One Black Mountain general was so angry that he wanted to lead his soldiers to fight the Youzhou army to the death, but he was persuaded by others, who said that everyone was tired and morale was low. They couldn't win yesterday, so how could they win today?

Yu Digen said, "The men under the fierce tiger are extremely cunning. They tricked us before, and now they want to tire us out so that they can defeat us!"

"They won't let us rest. I suggest that the entire army retreat a few dozen miles to rest."

Someone laughed and said, "It was you who fell into the trap, not us!"

"If Commander Yang comes back and finds that we can't defeat a mere 2,000 people, where will our dignity be?"

Yu Digen blushed, "Why do you still care about face now?"

"Even if we can't retreat all of them, we have to retreat half of them. After they have rested, we can come back to change positions and let the people in the front rest!"

"Otherwise, I can't even sleep well, how can I fight this battle?"

Someone said in frustration: "This is fucking weird. More than 10,000 of us are forced to sleep by more than 2,000 people!"

"Aren't they tired?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded, confused and puzzled.

But they were really right. The Youzhou soldiers did take turns to rest.

However, in order to get a good night's sleep away from the battlefield, the soldiers who were exhausted after coming back from the battlefield had mules and horses pull carts to a place ten miles behind to rest, and then had the mules and horses pull them back to rest on the spot.

On the mountain road behind the Youzhou army, the only ones who did not get a rest were the hundreds of mules and horses that transported the soldiers day and night. They were truly being used as mules and horses.

Along the way, there were mules and horses that died of exhaustion. Their skins and bones were removed and turned into food for the soldiers.

Mules and horses are not people. People need to rest, but mules and horses don't. They just need to work.

Yuan Xi's behavior was inspired by the actions of later reactionaries. It was an act without conscience in feudal society, but it won precious time and energy for the soldiers and gradually dragged the Black Mountain Army into the quagmire.

On the fourth night, after the Montenegrin army suffered a larger-scale night attack, the soldiers began to collapse and blow up the camp.

They took advantage of the chaos, escaped from the burnt camp fence, and rushed into the vast mountains and forests, just to get a good night's sleep.

There were so many people fleeing, and they were so tired that many of them even fell asleep soon after they ran out, completely unaware of what was happening in the camp behind them.

So when Tian Yu led people to clean up the battlefield the next day, they found people lying all over the mountains and plains. Many of them were not dead, but were sleeping soundly.

As soon as the soldiers blew up the camp, the Montenegrin generals knew that things were not going well. They tried their best to calm the situation, but who could save such a chaotic situation in the darkness?

At this time, Yu Digen and others saw that the Youzhou army opened the gate and prepared to attack with all their forces. They knew that the situation was hopeless and fled back in a hurry.

So with Guo Jia in charge of planning and Tian Yu leading the troops and supervising the battle, the Black Mountain Army only lasted four days before collapsing across the board.

The Black Mountain Army on the mountain trampled on each other at night, leaving corpses everywhere and baggage and food scattered all over the mountain. Tian Yu took the opportunity to lead his men to attack for twenty miles. Guo Jia was afraid of any loss, so he sounded the horn to call back his troops.

While cleaning up the battlefield, the two men set up camps on the mountains along the way according to their previous plan, preparing to slowly approach the heart of the Black Mountains, open up the central pass, and join forces with Yan Rou.

Yuan Xi calculated the time when the Black Mountain Army would collapse, which happened to be the time when she and Yang Feng were fighting. She didn't know whether Yang Feng was dead or alive. Anyway, even if she rushed back, it would be too late to save the situation.

Yuan Xi took the records counted by Guo Jia and found that although the Youzhou Army also suffered many casualties, it was much better than the Black Mountain Army.

This was certainly due to the fact that Yuan Xi's soldiers were well-armored and had a large number of weapons, but the most important thing was that he asked Hua Tuo to bring medical students from the volunteer school to accompany the army, so that they could immediately provide treatment when a soldier was injured.

Although the word "charity" is in the name of charity, it is certainly not completely free. At least in the future official selection, participating in medical treatment is a hard condition.

Especially being a military medical practitioner is a plus, and medical practitioners in charity schools who want to realize their ambitions cannot avoid it.

Hua Tuo once told Yuan Xi, "My ambition is to exhaust all medical skills, cure diseases and save lives, and write a medical book that can be passed down from generation to generation, so I can follow you to take risks in person."

"However, not everyone who studies medicine can think like me. Maybe they just want to make a living."

"If they insist on not going to the battlefield, how will you punish them, sir?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi pondered for a while and said, "Then let them fend for themselves."

Hua Tuo was quite surprised when he heard this. "That's it?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "That's good."

"As long as they don't use medical skills to harm others, our efforts will not be in vain."

"In their future lives, as long as they can cure diseases and save lives and spread their medical skills, even if only one person can be saved, it will be enough."

"When you sow seeds, some may bloom, and some may not even sprout. When you harvest, the fruits may be large or small."

"But we can't say they didn't try hard, sometimes they just had different circumstances."

"I just hope that in the future, the efforts of my husband and I can bear fruit on this land, so that more people can taste the fruits of our efforts."

After hearing this, Hua Tuo stroked his beard and laughed, "I understand your intention, young master."

"I will try to live longer and see how far you can go."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, so sir, please take care of yourself."

Hua Tuo heard this and said with lingering fear: "Don't mention it!"

"That day, both sides rained arrows all over the sky. Several arrows pierced through the tent and pierced into the ground, brushing past my body. I almost peed myself!"

"My disciples and I are wearing linen clothes, which are not vulnerable to stray arrows!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi slapped his head and said, "This is my oversight. Next time we go to war, I will get a few leather-covered flatbed cars to provide shelter for the doctors while they are treating patients."

Such details were gradually discovered during Yuan Xi's marches and battles, and Yuan Xi wrote them into the methods of training troops. He believed that one day he would be able to train the soldiers under his command into a unique army.

The news that the Black Mountain Army, which consisted of nearly half of the northern vanguard's elite troops, was defeated by the Youzhou Army quickly spread to several nearby counties.

Those who had ideas about Montenegro suddenly became anxious.

Yuan Shang sat in the tent, slammed the bamboo slips on the table, and said to his generals in displeasure: "It's just Dongwuyang, we have been fighting for so many days, how come we still can't take it down?"

"If my father knew, how would he look at me?"

Wen Chou, Zhang He and Gao Lan were all present in the tent. They wondered what to do. A big city like Dongwuyang was not easy to attack.

Zang Hong was quite popular in the city and was determined to fight to the death. He defended the city to the death, and even the three pillars of Hebei were helpless for a while.

Attacking and defending a city is like grinding meat. Most of the time, it just depends on which side runs out of food first, so there is no rush.

Yuan Shang originally thought that after taking Dongwuyang, he would still have time to go to Heishan to take advantage. However, when he heard that Yuan Xi had already broken through the northern line of the Heishan army, he immediately lost his composure.