The forest was so dense and there were almost no roads, so we had to cut our way out by cutting through the thorns.

In other words, Di Qing brought a large number of minority soldiers this time. Otherwise, if they relied solely on their firearms army, it would probably be difficult for them to even climb the mountain.

These ethnic minority soldiers often lived in the mountains, so crossing mountains and ridges was no problem for them, so they quickly opened up a path.

Even so, it took Di Qing more than an hour to finally climb to a small hill that was only fifty or sixty feet high - this was already the highest mountain nearby. They looked around from the open area on the top of the mountain.

I saw thick mountain fog in the distance. At the end of the road among the mountains, the Jiaozhi people had built a pass. There were camps distributed on the mountains to the right of the pass, and there were countless camps densely packed in the back, blocking the entire traffic artery.

Obviously, if they launched a frontal attack, the Song army would not only suffer heavy losses at the enemy's front pass, but would also be attacked by enemies on the mountains on both sides. Whether they used bows and arrows or rolling stones and logs, they would be unable to launch an offensive.

But Di Qing saw the weak point at a glance. Although the enemy occupied the mountains on both sides, the other nearby mountains were not guarded at all. In particular, there was a high mountain within a few kilometers of the pass. If they occupied that place, they could attack the pass from a high position.

So he pointed in that direction without hesitation and said, "Spread the word and set up camp at the foot of the mountain over there!"

"General, isn't that mountain too close to the enemy?"

Nong Zhigao was surprised.

Although the high mountain was probably about three or four kilometers away from the pass, in ancient times, people would often choose places with better terrain for camping, such as near a water source, or a little further away from the enemy, so that they could react immediately to any enemy action.

Three or four kilometers may seem far, but in fact, if the Jiaozhi people came around from the mountains on both sides and launched a surprise attack, they would still be caught off guard.

"It's okay. It's right there."

Di Qing smiled and said, "As long as we occupy that high mountain, the enemy can be defeated in a snap!"

"yes."

Nong Zhigao had already seen the power of muskets, so he no longer objected but instead followed military orders.

Soon the army continued to move forward and arrived at the foot of the mountain about four kilometers away from the Jiaozhi army's wall. In fact, the end of the road could not be seen directly from here.

The road was not straight but winding, but both sides had people on the hills looking out, so they naturally noticed the situation quickly.

The Jiaozhi scout reported the news to Guo Shengyi. Guo Shengyi had actually received the news yesterday that Li Foma asked him to defend Lang Son to the death, and that Li Foma was already on the way with reinforcements.

So he was very confident and personally climbed up the mountain to the right of the camp to monitor every move of the Song army.

He saw that the Song army had been camping at the foot of a distant mountain all afternoon, and a large number of civilians began to go into the mountains to cut down trees, so he didn't take it seriously. The other side's position could not threaten them.

Especially where the Song army was, there was no water source.

You should know that this place was carefully selected by Guo Shengyi. The water sources on both sides of the mountains were occupied by them, and all the water from the mountain springs was brought into their own camp.

The closest water source to the Song army was indeed the mountain where they were stationed, but it was just a small spring that could not meet the water needs of tens of thousands of people. The water sources in other mountains were far away.

Therefore, Guo Shengyi did not care about the Song army at all. As long as he could hold on for a few more days, the Song army would have no choice but to retreat when their water ran out.

At that moment, Guo Shengyi continued to observe.

However, what he didn't know was that Di Qing had no intention of fighting a protracted war with him.

At this time, Di Qing spent the next few days building a camp while sending laborers to cut down trees and build a small path from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

By August 6, a large number of dismantled gun mounts were transported to the top of the mountain. This task alone mobilized more than 10,000 laborers.

Starting from the early morning of the 6th, the Song army began to assemble the artillery position on the top of the mountain. Twenty two-thousand-jin steel cannons were carried up, and 240 small steel cannons were placed.

You should know that the Song army's firearms battalion has two armies of 10,000 people, with a total of six artillery battalions, 60 heavy cannons, and 360 small steel cannons.

This means that the artillery going up the mountain accounted for almost half of the Song army's firepower.

In other words, the top of the mountain was not spacious enough, and there were too many trees. It took a lot of time to clear the weeds and trees. Otherwise, Di Qing wanted to put all the cannons up there and carpet bomb the entire Jiaozhi camp.

Even so, it is enough.

Even in the war between Western Xia and Liao, the Song Dynasty's artillery never exerted its true power.

After all, the Song Dynasty had not built so many artillery pieces at that time, and it didn't even have muskets, so it could only use grenades to entertain the Western Xia and Liao.

Now the Song Dynasty's artillery has undergone qualitative improvements in both technology and steel production, which naturally leads to quantitative improvements.

More than 200 cannons of various sizes formed a terrifying artillery position on the top of the mountain.

By noon, Di Qing was standing on the top of the mountain looking out. Nong Zhigao beside him was curiously looking at the nearby artillery positions. The surrounding trees and weeds had all been cleared away, making the view from the top of the mountain a bit wider.

"General, can these cannons really fire ten miles away?"

Nong Zhigao still asked in disbelief.

This place is more than ten miles away from the enemy's position. Even though Di Qing told him, he still refused to believe it.

Di Qing laughed and said, "Of course. You don't know that the first time a cannon showed its power was during the war with the Liao Kingdom. A single shot killed the Liao general Yelu Dilugu from several miles away."

"It's truly the power of God."

Nong Zhigao couldn't help but say something.

"General!"

At this moment, Qi Yun, the deputy general and commander of Yongzhou, came up and said, "The cannons have been assembled."

"good!"

A hint of coldness flashed across Di Qing's eyes. He raised his head and looked towards the Jiaozhi position in the distance. He raised the whip in his hand, pointed it at the distance and said, "Bomb!"

In an instant, loud whistles sounded throughout the Song army's artillery positions.

This is the order to fire the cannon!

(End of this chapter)

2015