The wind direction gradually changed, and the rolling smoke drifted towards other places before reaching the fortress on the top of the mountain.
The fire burned for a full hour and a half, from the afternoon until dusk. As the hot air and black smoke rose into the sky, the sky turned a depressing orange-gray color.
The entire mountainous area became increasingly hot and unbearable, and the soldiers' iron bows and crossbows also began to heat up slightly.
The fire dragon burning up from the bottom of the mountain and the fire dragon burning down from the mountain spread towards opposite directions with scorching breath, devouring the forest.
Just as the fire dragons were about to meet at the mountainside, a miraculous thing happened. The flames did not engulf the dense forest on the mountainside, but each of them went out in front of the dense forest.
The soldiers looked at the fire dragon falling in front of the dense poplar forest, each with an incredible expression on their face.
After the thick smoke dissipated, a large area of land halfway up the mountain had turned black. Looking down from the hillside, the view suddenly became much wider.
Only the trees in the center of the mountain were not burned, dividing the entire side of the mountain affected by the fire into green and black stripes, as if Xiangyang Mountain was wearing a black and green striped sweater.
Taking advantage of the gap when the fire was burning downwards, Song Lin ordered the soldiers to retreat to the sparse woods behind the fifth line of defense, and all crossbows and bows were on standby.
The baggage train in the city had already transported a large number of weapons to the top of the mountain from the other side, and all members were on standby, ready to meet the rebels rushing up the mountain.
Zhang Cheng's rebel army put out the gradually shrinking fire in the forest vegetation, and hurriedly stepped on the still warm scorched earth and rushed up to the dense forest on the mountainside.
They occupied the dense forest that survived the attack of the two fire dragons, quickly emptied the traps inside, and set up camp for a while under the cover of the dense forest.
The vanguard troops have gathered on the mountainside, preparing to launch the final general attack.
Li Fei is a very pessimistic person. Although he is extremely brave in killing enemies on the battlefield, he will not retreat in the face of danger.
But when it comes to employing troops, he prefers the more the better.
When he saw that the difference in the number of people was too great, he began to complain that there were too few people.
"General Song, our traps are completely useless now. If Xue's army attacks, we won't be able to resist them with so many people."
"We can hold out as long as we can. If we retreat from this high ground and let them cross the trench, we won't be able to defend Xiangyang Ridge."
Song Lin ordered his men to dismantle the fortress, stack the stones and weapons, and pile tens of thousands of crossbow arrows on the ruined fortress.
The densely packed vanguard of the rebel army began to charge from the dense forest on the mountainside.
Song Lin ordered the team to shoot with all their might, and a head-on confrontation between the two sides began.
Without the cover of trees, the rebels' attack was extremely ineffective, and thousands of soldiers were shot down by crossbows.
The rebels originally wanted to burn the mountain with fire to kill the ambush troops of the king's army, but they were defeated by Song Lin's fire plan. Not only did they fail to damage the troops of the king's army, but the lethality of their crossbows increased dramatically.
But the enemy had a total of 80,000 troops. Even if all of them were equipped with powerful crossbows, it would be difficult to resist so many people rushing up the mountain.
"Hurry up and send reinforcements! Hasn't the baggage train brought the crossbows up the mountain yet? Fill in the gaps in the archers and push down all the rocks that can be pushed!"
Li Fei and several generals hurriedly commanded their soldiers to fight against Xue's army that was rushing up the mountain.
The rebels lost their cover to defend against bows and crossbows, and the shield team was also subject to rolling stones. For a time, there was chaos on the scorched earth, and many corpses were lying all over the place.
The Wang army no longer had any traps to kill Xue's army, and their crossbows and bows were quickly used up.
Once they meet, it will be a hand-to-hand fight based solely on numbers.
By then, the royal army will be suppressed and will undoubtedly be defeated.
"General Song, if this continues, it will be difficult to hold the place. Let's retreat." Seeing more and more people rushing up the mountain, several soldiers became anxious.
Song Lin raised his hand to signal them to stop arguing. He was also extremely anxious. He watched the rebels coming closer and closer. Group after group was knocked down by the rolling stones and rain of arrows, but there was still a steady stream of people attacking.
He looked at the soldiers who were already throwing wood at the enemy and quickly ordered, "Drink kerosene on the cut wood, tie it with tinder, light it on fire and throw it down."
The soldiers quickly poured kerosene on the stacked poplar trees, tied tinder on them, lit them on fire and pushed them down.
The burning sections of poplar trees rolled down the uncovered hillside, knocking down the charging enemy troops. The rebels were knocked to the ground in large numbers before they even reached the fifth line of defense.
Rolling boulders and firewood continued to fall down the hillside, and a huge ball of fire fell into the surviving poplar forest. Flames suddenly rose from the woods again, and the fire quickly spread to the dense forest in the center of the mountain.
The main force of the rebel army stationed by Zhang Cheng on the mountainside was immediately engulfed in flames. The rebels were still rushing to the top of the mountain, but when they saw the fierce fire, they hurriedly retreated.
For a moment, the advancing and retreating soldiers collided with each other, and countless soldiers were trampled or burned to death.
The royal army led by Song Lin continued to throw firewood and boulders down the mountain. They had wood on half of the mountain, enough to burn the 80,000-strong rebel army.
Night fell with the flames, and Xiangyang Mountain was brightly lit. The miserable howling of the enemy troops continued to be heard in the flames, and echoed through the sky along with the rolling boulders and burning firewood.
The outcome was decided, the high ground was held.
"The Xue army is retreating, the Xue army is really retreating!" The scout shouted again at the top of his voice. His face was already blackened by smoke, but he could not hide the joy of victory.
The soldiers were all exhausted, their fingers bleeding from drawing bows and arrows, and those who were carrying wood and rolling stones collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.
I couldn't even remember how many stones I had thrown or how many arrows I had fired.
Hearing the high-pitched and resounding voice of the messenger, the exhausted soldiers seemed to regain their spirits and began to whisper to each other: "We won? We really won!"
"It's held... Oh my God, it's really held!"
The cheers of victory gradually spread across the hilltop.
The generals standing on the high ground looked at the defeated rebels who had abandoned their armor and weapons and repeatedly praised them, "Brother Song, you really opened our eyes!"
"I told you, to be able to marry such a powerful female Prime Minister, Mr. Song must have the ability to hold up the sea and the sky."
"Hahahaha, awesome! I've never had such a satisfying fight before."
Li Fei threw his head back and laughed heartily. He patted Song Lin's shoulder heavily and said repeatedly, "As expected, heroes emerge from youth. I am convinced! I, Li Fei, am convinced!"
Song Lin politely curled the corners of his mouth in response to their praise, but he was still very uneasy in his heart. He would never be at peace until he saw Shen Xu was safe.
Moreover, they only repelled 80,000 troops of Xue's army, and the combat methods of this group of people were not like those of a professional army, but more like a temporarily assembled force.
It is unknown how many troops are left in the rear of Xue’s army, whether they will attack again, or whether they will attack other cities.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
