"What are you stunned about? Go back to Gulang City now! Kill the Tartars meritorious! Atonement for sins! If you cower, you will be beheaded on the spot! Gao Yigong shouted angrily. [Full text reading]

The Ming soldiers in the canyon suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the white-clothed army doesn't kill people, they can be regarded as escaping. Listening to Gao Yigong's tone, it seems that he really gave them the opportunity to atone for their sins. As long as they are lucky enough to kill one or two Tartars, the charge of traitors should be washed away. With the help of the white-clothed army, it seems that it is not very difficult to achieve such a goal. With such a mentality, they naturally cooperate more.

Soon, all the cannons were dragged up again. The roads, which were originally messy, have also been reopened. The Ming army, who was bent on clearing away the crime of treason, worked very hard. Some people were hiding in pools of blood, and when they got up, they were covered in blood. As time passed, the blood dried up, covering them like plate armor. However, this does not hinder their actions at all. It's really exciting!

The war horses captured from the Tartars were naturally used to drag the cannons. In this battle, the number of war horses captured by the white-clothed army was really quite a lot, more than 700. Some of the war horses are used to carry logistics materials, and some of the war horses are used to haul cannons. Under the pull of the war horse, one cannon after another, along the road from which they came, walked back again.

…… The mastiff cavalry led by Gao Jie marched all the way north to Gulang City. The roads in this area all go through the canyon. In general, the ground is fairly flat, but the mountains on both sides are very high, and it is easy to be ambushed. Of course, for the time being, neither side of the battle has a chance to ambush the opponent. After a day's rapid march, Gao Jie and his men first arrived at Zhenqiangbao (today's Zhu Tibetan Autonomous County) and replenished some of their food and supplies. They were advancing so fast that the consignment of horses could not keep up.

Zhenqiang Fort actually had no Tartars to garrison, only three or four hundred Ming army soldiers from the original Thousand Households. Theoretically, they also belonged to the "rebels" who surrendered to the Tartars. Otherwise, the Tartars who went east would have packed them all up a long time ago. However, when the White Coats arrived, they vehemently denied this. To prove their loyalty, they gave the White Coats a lot of assistance. It's a pity that Gao Jie is a ruthless guy, he left a squad of musketeers to monitor all these military households and hand them over to the troops behind......

After a short rest, Gao Jie and Zhang Yi began to advance towards the watershed (that is, the Wusheling Ridge in later generations). This is the greatest difficulty that lies ahead of them. Since ancient times, watersheds have been said to be inherently dangerous. According to the guide, the white-clothed army did not need to go to Gulang City at all, and only needed to set up a defensive line on the watershed to make it difficult for the Tartars to move an inch. Both the Han and Ming dynasties built Great Walls on top of the watershed to block the southward movement of nomads.

However, the goal of the White Army was not only to prevent the Tartars from crossing the watershed, but also to establish a bridgehead for the future attack on Gansu Town. If the white-clothed army does not occupy the watershed and allows the Tartars to control Gulang City, it will be more troublesome for the white-clothed army to attack Gansu Town in the future. Therefore, Gulang City must be occupied. After a simple ideological mobilization, the troops began to climb over the mountains. After entering the mountains, the road is not very easy to walk, and the marching speed is greatly reduced. Although Gao Jie and Zhang Yi were patient and impatient, they had no choice but to crawl forward.

The mountain roads near the watershed have always been the bottleneck of the Hexi Corridor and the Guanzhong area, and some places are particularly difficult to walk due to disrepair. On the watershed, there are the Great Wall built by the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty successively, as well as place names such as the dragon moat, and there is the Xixiu Dragon Grassland. The natural scenery is actually very beautiful, and it is indeed pleasing to the eye. However, the air was thin, dry, and had a thick chill, which was very uncomfortable.

War horses walking on such a road are actually similar to walking. When encountering some narrow or steep places, the war horse even trembles, and needs to hesitate for a long time before moving forward. Some mastiff cavalry warriors, in order to save horsepower, simply came down on foot. When camping at night, the temperature plummeted, and there was constant wind and sand. If you don't prepare, the night will be very difficult. Fortunately, the preparations of the white army are also relatively sufficient. Food and warm clothing are ready. Anyway, there are a lot of war horses, so it's nothing to bring a few extra clothes.

After walking for three days and two nights, the white-clothed army finally crossed the highest end of the watershed and began to go downhill. Coming down from the watershed, it is still a long and narrow canyon, but the ground is gradually flattening, and there is no need to dismount in a hurry. By the time they reached the halfway point of the mountain, the speed of the cavalry galloping was already quite fast. After a brisk gallop, they finally came down the mountain. From the clairvoyant, you can see a small lonely town in the middle of the canyon.

"Commander Gao, Commander Zhang, there is Gulang City in front." The scout leading the way said.

"Good! Brothers, the destination has arrived! Gulang City is ours! Gao Jie nodded fiercely and waved his hand, allowing the soldiers to continue to urge the war horses and accelerate forward.

At this time, scouts of the Tatar cavalry also appeared. These scouts of the Tatar cavalry naturally belonged to Gulang City. They didn't think at all that the White Coats would appear here. Therefore, when they were bored looking around and spotted the white-clothed army, they didn't react for a while! After a while, someone shouted: "The white-clothed army is here!" The White Coats are coming! Then he hurriedly turned his horse's head and fled in the direction of Gulang City.

"The White Army is here! The White Coats are coming! "Gulang City, which used to be relatively quiet, suddenly became chaotic. The Tatar archers stationed in the city hurried to the head of the city, bent their bows and arrows one by one, and waited for them. The rebels of the Ming army, who were originally stationed in a thousand households in Gulang City, were also whipped by the Tartars and hurriedly ran to the top of the city. For a while, the entire Gulang City was in a panic, and even the city gate forgot to close.

The Tatar scouts also ran back desperately. The number of cavalry in the white army is indeed too much. The Tatar scouts, almost frightened. There is no way, all the way over, all the dense are the cavalry of the white-clothed army, and there are thousands of people. Even if you are an idiot, you know that the white army is not easy to mess with. After the Tatar scouts ran back to Gulang City, the gates of Gulang City were immediately closed tightly, and they refused to open it.

At this point, Gao Jie is not in a hurry. Gu Lang City was in front of him, he could take it down with his hand, what was he worried about. Gao Jie is not in a hurry, and Zhang Yi is not in a hurry. He looked out from the clairvoyant mirror and saw that the defenders of Gulang City were estimated to be less than a thousand. With thousands of white-clothed cavalry, can't take such a small stronghold that doesn't even have artillery? It's true to let everyone rest their breath. Paralyzed, damn watershed, it's really too difficult to walk, Zhang Yi felt that his crotch was rubbed by the bumps and was about to bleed............ At this time, Xu Xingxia had also crossed the highest point of the watershed and began to go downhill. Since the morning, there has been a dark blue on his cheeks, as if he has been punched by someone. Actually, it was a complete accident. When I crossed the watershed last night, I was stationed at Anyuan Station Fort (that is, Anyuan Town in later generations) late at night. Speaking of which, this Anyuan Station Fort is definitely a battleground for soldiers. It just lies in the middle of the mountain road, and there is a high platform, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Only 300 musketeers needed to be stationed to block all the Tatar cavalry.

No one knew if it was haunted or something, but in the middle of the night, there was a gust of wind, flying sand and rocks, and the movement was quite large, which once made the soldiers of the chasers feel a little helpless. Xu Xingxia stood up to see what was going on, but a finger-sized stone flew from nowhere and hit the bridge of his nose, and that's it. There were quite a few soldiers who were injured by the rubble at night, at least thirty or forty. Several of the fighters had their noses crooked, and their noses bleeded all over the ground. Others had their front teeth knocked out, their mouths covered in blood, and their speech slurred.

However, this is not the most serious. The most serious thing is that the chasers commanded by Liu Chuang were troubled by this sudden gale, and two soldiers were missing, and more than a dozen war horses were lost. Until noon, the two warriors were alive and dead, as if they had evaporated from the world, which made everyone feel very weird. Later, I asked the guide to find out that in the autumn of every year, the vicinity of Anyuan Station Fort is full of frightening winds, and strange events occur from time to time.

In fact, these winds and sands in the watershed are, compared to other places, pediatric at all. In the whole town of Gansu, there are many strange places in the watershed. Don't talk about other places, let's just talk about Jiayuguan, where the wind and sand are definitely enough for everyone to drink a pot. If the white-clothed army did not have sufficient ideological preparations, it would certainly be very difficult to fight outside Jiayuguan in the future. To defeat more enemies, you must first conquer more harsh and complex environments.

Stroking the bruises on his cheeks, Xu Xingxia nodded thoughtfully. With the development of the war, the places controlled by the white-clothed army will become larger and larger, and the battlefield will continue to extend, and there are various types of battlefields. To the north, is the savannah. To the east, there are plains and mountains. To the south, it is also plain and mountainous. To the west, most of it is desert Gobi. Different battlefields have completely different requirements for troops. The same unit may not be able to adapt to all battlefields in terms of training and weaponry. This means that the White Coats need to build more professional combat units.

"In the future, there is really a long way to go! Step up your game! Xu Xingxia silently muttered to himself.

After descending the mountain, Xu Xingxia soon came to the vicinity of Gulang City. However, he did not affect Gao Jie's command. Attacking the small Gulang City, there was no need for him to go into battle in person. However, after conquering Gulang City, in the face of Mo Yuegen's crazy counterattack, he had to show up a little to let Mo Yuegen know that he was in Gulang City. He's the one in the game who specializes in attracting hatred. As long as he appears in Gulang City, Mo Yuegen will definitely bite it.

…… Gao Jie and Zhang Yi discussed and decided that the mastiff cavalry was responsible for attacking the city, and the vulture cavalry was responsible for raiding the formation and guarding the surroundings. If a large army of Tartars arrives, the Vulture Cavalry will be responsible for intercepting it. They optimistically estimated that the siege should not take much time, and it could be completed in half an hour. Compared with Zhuanglang City, the walls of Gulang City are much older.

"Get ready, everyone! Let's go! After the mastiff cavalry was ready for battle, Gao Jie immediately issued a combat order. The warriors of the mastiff cavalry immediately pounced on it like a tide.

Bursts of gunfire suddenly covered Gulang City. One by one, the Minnie bullets roared away, crushing all the Tartar archers on the city's head, unable to raise their heads. Some unwilling Tartar archers tried to stand up and fight back, but they were defeated in the blink of an eye. At least one or more blood holes in the body. On the head of Gulang City, the battlements constantly splashed up bursts of dust, which were all beaten alive by Minnie bullets.

Under the cover of muskets, the demomen of the mastiff cavalry, who were familiar with the way, stepped forward and prepared to blow the city gates open. Sensing that something was wrong, the Tartar defenders of Gulang City hurriedly released arrows to counterattack. As a result, they were subjected to more intense fire from the white-clad musketeers, and a large number of people fell in succession. There is less than a thousand-man team, so it is naturally not the opponent of the white-clothed army. Soon, the Demoman of the Mastiff Cavalry placed the explosives pack, lit the fuse, and quickly left.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the south gate of Gulang City was blown away.

In the next battle, there will be no suspense. The Tartar archers, who were dizzy from the bombing, were basically stunned. The warriors of the Mastiff Cavalry, armed with bayonets, were the first to rush into Gulang City and clear the Tartar archers. The remaining Tatars fled out of the city, but were intercepted by the vulture cavalry. The number of vulture cavalry soldiers deployed outside the city is also quite large. Ten white-clothed soldiers captured a Tartar, and if the Tartar could escape, it would be a miracle.

Xu Xingxia then entered the city with the cavalry hunters. Everything in Gulang City has not changed much. Xu Xingxia quickly adjusted the deployment. Mastiffs, chasseurs, dragoons, and tigers were all responsible for defending the city. Zhang Yi's vulture cavalry was scattered far away, monitoring Mo Yuegen's movements. Mo Yuegen's large army will definitely pass by here. The only question is when he will arrive. Because, this is seriously related to the garrison strength of Gulang City.

After occupying Gulang City, what Xu Xingxia was most concerned about was when those cannons would be able to be transported. They are a weapon against the Tartars. It's a pity that when crossing the watershed, Gao Yigong and the others moved relatively slowly, and it is estimated that it will take a little time for the cannon to be transported to Gulang City.

"My lord, Mo Yuegen is here!"

In the evening of that day, Xu Xingxia received Zhang Yi's report.

The skirmishers of the Eagle Cavalry discovered the traces of Mo Yuegen's large army. Preliminary estimates put it at 30,000 or 40,000. In other words, Mo Yuegen's main force has all been dispatched. In addition, there are the rebels who are fighting together, and they all have artillery in tow, estimated to be in the hundreds.

The atmosphere in Gulang City suddenly became tense. Can Gulang City, without artillery, be able to withstand a large army of Tartar cavalry with cannons?

(To be continued)