"Then go ahead." Lou Shi didn't say anything extra, staring at the other general and continued to give orders. "Ma Wu... lead our troops to explore the way south, set up camps along the Beiluo River along the way, and if possible, directly capture Baishui City a hundred miles downstream!"
Yelu Mawu, who had been silent the whole time, bowed his head and walked out of the tent, even faster than Salihe. Seeing this, Wanyan Salihe said nothing more and left to receive the troops.
In this way, a small setback in the battle did not shake the Jin army's will to fight. On the contrary, because the location of this city was really a thorn in the throat of the Jin army, a more powerful army was sent out by Wanyan Loushi almost immediately.
Wanyan Salihe was good at learning lessons. With a three-day deadline, he sent his troops westward along the Ju River, but relying on the large number of troops in his hands, he divided his more than 60 Mouke into three... The rear army set up camp in the Huagou area between the daying and Fangzhou city as a relay; the front army recuperated in the shade before going into battle, preparing to attack immediately; at the same time, another troop simply set up a new camp only three or four miles away from Fangzhou city, which was larger than the Huagou camp and was to serve as an attack base.
This move was very, very correct, because the loess plateau in northern Shaanxi is so rugged that you can see people on the opposite side from a distance of twenty miles, ten miles, or even three or five miles. But in fact, if there is a ditch or a plateau in the middle, you often have to run away as soon as you see a mountain. At this time, setting up camps, relay points, and attack bases in advance will undoubtedly help the war.
Like yesterday, the battle broke out in the late afternoon when the heat had subsided.
After fighting for only a short while, Wanyan Salihe realized that Tuhesu's defeat yesterday was not unfair, and he even admired Tuhesu a little... because when the real fight started, he realized how dangerous the terrain of the battlefield was!
It was a real pit! The narrow road was full of potholes. The Jin army could only fight on foot, and the key was that the movement was extremely slow. Unfortunately, these potholes were not enough to block long-range arrows. Therefore, as the Song army's crossbows fired repeatedly, shooting from both the city and the mountain, the Jin army had to bear unilateral casualties from the moment they engaged in the battle.
However, according to past experience, as long as the Jin army can withstand casualties and reach the effective combat area, the Song army will retreat. So although Salihe was frightened, he still led his troops forward and selected three heavily armored warriors from Mouke. They marched forward in a scattered manner with short weapons and bows... This choice was basically the same as Tuhesu's choice yesterday, and it also made sense.
Among them, heavy armor is a necessary protection; short weapons are designed to be as light as possible and increase the speed of advancement; bulk is the best formation to deal with long-range attacks, and it is also the only two formation options under this geographical condition (the other is dense), which also shows that Salihe is complacent about the combat effectiveness of his own soldiers. He obviously thinks that as long as someone attacks, the battle can be over; and there is no need to say much about the heavy bows. Whether the Jin army is fighting on horseback or on foot, that kind of heavy arrow is the first means of killing, and it is the best choice to enter the combat state as soon as possible under such circumstances.
The next quarter of an hour, the battle was uneventful... Just like yesterday, the Jin army was just passively taking the beating and advancing vigorously. The only thing worth mentioning was that after the Jin army began to climb Xiaoqiao Mountain, Salihe suddenly understood why Tuhesu wanted to go forward to supervise the battle.
There are two reasons:
Firstly, the number of rocks randomly scattered on the mountain was excessive. Most of these rocks were only as high as the knees, but they were hard and immovable. Moreover, all the trees on the mountain had been cut down long ago. Not only did the Jin army have no cover at all during the climb, but they were also confused by these rocks... In fact, this was probably the source of inspiration for the Song army to dig those small pits on the road.
Secondly, when they arrived at the front of the mountain, arrows rained down like rain and flew like the wind. Unlike the previous road, at this position and distance, the long-range killing efficiency of the Song army was too amazing. From a high vantage point, the Shenbi bow could completely penetrate the armor of the Jin army except for the lamellar armor. When they walked up the slope to the halfway point of the mountain, even the gourd helmets and lamellar armor could not withstand the Shenbi bow's concentrated shooting... Any commander would be terrified by such casualties visible to the naked eye.
Of course, the lesson from the previous incident was there, so even though he watched from afar his own soldiers on the mountain being pierced like targets by the divine arm bows and even the crossbows, Wanyan Salihe still stood motionless on the side of a hill four hundred steps away (to guard against the crossbows), acting like a great general.
It must be the demeanor of a great general. Salihe followed Aguda since he was a child, followed Nianhan when he grew up, and later followed Loushi. For him, the demeanor of a great general is simply a compulsory course at the beginner level.
Who doesn't know that Wanyan Salihe is a famous general, known as the Cold-Faced Man in the Western Army?
Thus, the first wave of Jin troops, consisting of three Mouke, were defeated under the cold gaze of this grim-faced man.
Salihe's expression remained unchanged. He turned to look at a Meng'an beside him and said, "Gu Chipi, yesterday Tuhesu's subordinates also had three Moukes attacking the mountain. They had the same equipment, the same formation, and the same route. The Song army also had the same response and the same fortifications. In the end, the Song army was indeed shaken?"
Meng'an, who was called Gu Chipi, was a well-known veteran general in the Western Army. Hearing this, he was very meticulous: "Let me tell you, my dear. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday when I accompanied Wan Hu. Before Wan Hu was injured, the Song army had indeed begun to waver. A line of archers with divine arms directly abandoned their weapons and fled into the camp. Although the men in front were also a little shaky, they only withdrew after Wan Hu was injured..."
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