Although the young man was rather impetuous and made a grave mistake of underestimating his enemy after being incited by Dugu Yan, he was able to pull himself back from the brink in time.

This shows that he still has great potential to become a great player!

Therefore, in this second battle of Xingguan, Jiang Ming ordered that all the remaining troops be placed under the command of Murong Lie alone.

As for Dugu Yan, she can stay at home and prepare for childbirth!

......

After their previous crushing defeat, the Tuoba tribe's forces were almost completely wiped out, leaving only a few thousand men.

Including Murong Lie's more than 40,000 men, the total force was only 45,000.

Fortunately, their thoughts were unified, and they had a clear strategic intention and plan, so Murong Lie immediately took action.

He boldly and directly broke through the poorly defended pass, then quickly passed through the mountain path, blocked several water sources, and then... set up camp at the foot of the mountain, not daring to go any further!

This kind of mountain pass annihilation warfare is very different from the barbican annihilation warfare used in defending cities.

A narrow road, suitable for encircling and annihilating the enemy, is not necessarily a water source.

Water sources are often located in low-lying areas with open surroundings.

Even though the enemy has a high vantage point, as long as we maintain a sufficient distance, their arrows still won't be able to reach us.

Thus, based on the actual situation on the battlefield, Murong Lie cleverly deployed his troops, cut off the waterways, and directly surrounded the 50,000-strong army of Zhongshan on the mountaintop.

At this point, the Zhongshan army had two choices: either charge down into the valley and fight the Xianbei people.

Alternatively, they could retreat along the mountaintop... completely withdrawing from this advantageous high ground!

However, this would be tantamount to leaving the northern gateway wide open, completely exposing the flat area of ​​the "basin" inside to the Xianbei's military might...

Such an arrangement would be something that not only Shan Liang wouldn't dare to make, but the ruler of Zhongshan would certainly not be willing to accept either!

Seeing that the Xianbei were not advancing, they set up camp in an open area at the foot of the mountain...

Dan Liang on the mountain was extremely anxious, cursing incessantly, saying, "Why do the Xianbei people never forget to squeeze into the narrowest pocket?"

His statement is utterly idiotic...

Warfare is always about assessing the situation and adapting to changing circumstances.

How can everything be done according to his ideas?

The time when Huyan annihilated Dugu Yan's troops was late at night...

Dugu Yan, greedy for merit and reckless, mistakenly entered the most dangerous narrow area.

This time, Murong Lie came to 'annoy' and 'besiege' the Zhongshan army on the mountain. How could he possibly jump into a fire pit?

One day, two days, that's alright...

By the third or fourth day, the soldiers of the Zhongshan Kingdom on the mountain were all dying of thirst, and some even ate grass on the mountain to quench their thirst.

Moreover, as time went on, their thirst became more and more severe, and some soldiers even drank their own urine!

It's summer now, the sun is scorching overhead, there aren't many trees on the mountain, and every day is like hell under the blazing sun... thirsty, hot, tired, and bitten by mosquitoes.

The Zhongshan army on the hilltop was suffering terribly!

Meanwhile, the Xianbei troops at the foot of the mountain behaved in a very "shameless" manner.

Because they controlled the water source, they not only drank their fill at the foot of the mountain, but also bathed, watered the trees, and wasted it recklessly... The Zhongshan soldiers, their mouths full of foam, looked dazed and swallowed hard.

Groundwater must be found at the foot of the mountain.

No one has ever dug a well on a mountain before...

Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous and their fighting strength was declining, Shan Liang decided to take a gamble. He sent 10,000 elite troops to launch a night raid down the mountain, hoping to seize the water source from the Xianbei people.

However, Murong Lie had already followed Jiang Ming's instructions and scattered a large amount of croton powder at the water source that was easiest for them to seize!

The soldiers of Zhongshan Kingdom, upon seeing water, went mad and drank it desperately...

Then they scrambled to carry them up the mountain...

This clearly demonstrates Shan Liang's ignorance as a commander!

The war has already reached this point, and he still hasn't learned his lesson. He's still transporting water upstream, trying to put up a last-ditch resistance.

This also shows that he simply didn't have the courage to confront the Xianbei people head-on at the foot of the mountain!

The result, naturally, was extremely tragic...

How did these soldiers who drank the croton water manage to ingest it, and how did they excrete it?

Croton seeds... even a normal person would get dehydrated from eating just a little bit of them.

What's more, they administered such an excessive dose by force-feeding?

Within moments, these ten thousand soldiers were vomiting and having diarrhea, their trousers filled with excrement, and they didn't even have time to take their pants off...

At this moment, the Xianbei soldiers, who had initially been 'defeated' and relinquished their water source, returned to fight back, launching wave after wave of attacks with arrows and swords...

More than 10,000 Zhongshan soldiers, with their trousers pulled up, all perished under the iron cavalry of the Xianbei.

Murong Lie finally avenged the deaths of his 7,000 brothers in the canyon!