Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 193: Stunned by the Blast
In the battle north of the bridge, Lu Jin commanded 200 cavalrymen to almost wipe out the enemy's vanguard. The two infantry regiments hiding in the back and the artillery team not far from the bridgehead saw it all. The morale of the Shengwu Army suddenly boosted, and all units were gearing up, waiting for the arrival of the enemy's large force.

The situation on the Yuan army side was different. The ordinary infantry might be fine, but the three cavalry centurions who were about to serve as the vanguard were in trouble. They called a few cavalry scouts who had escaped and asked them carefully about what had just happened. They learned that the other side had two hundred cavalrymen and almost wiped them out without much damage. If it weren't for the bandit general who stopped them at the end, I'm afraid none of them would have escaped.

Especially when they saw the miserable state of Lv Chonglu, they were jolted all the way back on horseback. If he hadn't been covering his wound with his hands while unconscious, his organs would have leaked out along the way.
After listening to the soldier's narration, the three of them took a deep breath, and the leader Lu Xianzong immediately spoke.

"The mission assigned to us by the commander-in-chief is to seize the wooden bridge and guard the ferry. As long as we prevent the bandits from destroying the wooden bridge and blocking the army from crossing the river, everyone should remember that we are going to guard the bridge, not to fight the bandits. Look at the miserable state of Lu Chonglu. If we die, the court may not necessarily provide us with pensions."

The other two immediately nodded and said, "Don't worry, we are not fools. We should go there as soon as possible. I heard that it is a wooden bridge. We must not let the bandits burn it down, otherwise the Tartars will blame us again."

Guan Bao called them Tartars in a perfunctory manner, showing no respect at all. The other two did not take it seriously. Now, righteous armies have risen up all over the country, and their slogan is to drive out the Tartars and restore the Han country. Although this is of no use to the Mongols, it still has some influence on the Han civil and military officials.

What if the rebels win? Then those who helped the Tartars suppress the rebels will be punished later?

This idea may not be obvious at the beginning, but as the strength of the volunteers grows and the Yuan army loses more and more, this idea will gradually strengthen.

As the old saying goes, they help whoever wins, and the same applies here. After seeing that the strength of the Shengwu Army was not as weak as they thought, these three low-ranking officers of the centurion army all planned to save their lives.

Just complete the task, and never do anything unnecessary and stressful!
Lu Xianzong immediately kicked his horse and rushed towards the wooden bridge with the other two, leading the remaining 300 or so cavalrymen of the Yuan army in Anqing Road.

The army was less than five miles away from the wooden bridge. The three hundred cavalrymen reached the bridgehead in just a few minutes. Looking at the still intact wooden bridge and dozens of cavalrymen strolling back and forth on the opposite bank, Lu Xianzong immediately frowned.

"Something's wrong!"

"What's wrong?" Another captain, Wu Yuyun, asked nervously.

Lu Xianzong guessed, "Yesen asked us to seize the bridge because he was afraid that the enemy soldiers would destroy the bridge and delay our crossing. But the enemy had clearly won the first battle just now, and the wooden bridge was in their hands. So why didn't they just tear down the bridge? Wouldn't it be more effective to delay our support from the north?"

Guan Bao also analyzed after hearing this, "Maybe there are too few of them and they don't have time. Besides, how can it be so easy to demolish a bridge?"

Wu Yuyun said, "Brother Lu is right. Even if we don't have time to demolish the bridge, we can still pile up some firewood and set it on fire. Why didn't the enemy do that? It means they have no intention of stopping us from crossing the river, nor are they worried about our support from the north! Or they think they have the ability to hold us back on the north bank."

Guan Bao scratched his hair in annoyance and simply asked, "What do you think, Brother Lu?"

Lu Xianzong frowned and shook his head, "I don't know either, but there is something fishy. Brothers, be careful. I think today's battle may be difficult. At this critical moment, it is more important to save your life."

"Yeah." Wu and Guan both nodded seriously.

At this time, several cavalrymen who had escaped back earlier also came over and pointed to the other side and said, "My lords, the man wearing scale armor and holding a halberd is the enemy general. He was the one who almost killed Captain Lu just now. This man is also very accurate in archery. My lords must be careful."

Upon hearing this, the three of them all looked towards the other side with serious expressions. As expected, they saw an enemy general carrying a Fang Tian Ji. He was wearing very fine armor, and the warhorse he was riding was half a head taller than the others. He was very majestic and obviously no ordinary person.

In addition, their subordinates reminded them that the man on the opposite side was an extremely accurate archer on horseback, so they did not dare to rush up and try their luck.

"What should we do? Should we cross the bridge?" Guan Bao frowned.

"Send a dozen riders over to guard the wooden bridge at the bridgehead. When the army behind us catches up, we will all cross the bridge. As long as the bridge is in our hands, Yesen and Molunchi can't say anything." Lu Xianzong said immediately.

"That's a good idea." Wu Yuyun responded with a smile, waved his hand, and sent ten cavalrymen to the other side. When the three saw that the bridge was still intact, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"what--"

However, on Lu Jin's side, when the soldiers saw that the other side had only sent out ten cavalrymen, they did not dare to cross the bridge at all, and they immediately booed in mockery.

Ye Sheng rode up to Lu Jin and asked, "Marshal, what should we do?"

Seeing this, Lu Jin immediately laughed and said, "Send twenty cavalrymen over there to fight them. If the enemy flees back to the south bank, you can shoot two arrows at them across the river. If the enemy chases you, you can retreat. There is a large team here to cover you."

"Yes."

Ye Sheng agreed and ordered two squads of cavalry to meet the enemy. Seeing this, the ten cavalrymen of the Yuan army also fled in different directions, while others circled around the bridge.

The twenty riders on Ye Sheng's side were divided into two columns. They took turns to circumvent the west side and shoot arrows at the Yuan cavalrymen, killing two of them on the spot. The other three were caught up by Ye Sheng himself. He stabbed and stabbed them with his lance and knocked all three unknown men off their horses in one attack. The remaining four were so scared that they hurriedly ran to the bridge, but two of them were shot dead halfway through. In the end, only two of them managed to escape back to the south bank.

The twenty riders of the Shengwu Army howled suddenly, waving their swords and bows to show off their might. Some of them boldly chased to the bridge, quickly dismounted, and chopped off the heads of two Yuan soldiers. There were also a dozen people holding bows to provide cover on the bridge. Anyone who dared to come over would surely die. It was full of provocation.

Seeing the three centurions on the opposite side gritting their teeth, Lu Xianzong said, "The enemy is deliberately provoking us. They are so confident, they must have something to rely on. As long as the bandits don't destroy the bridge, let them go."

"But they chopped off the heads of our soldiers in front of us, and we didn't fight back. Isn't that a bit too unreasonable?" Although Guan Bao knew the principle of hiding and saving his life, he still had some temper. Seeing the other party being so provocative, he immediately became furious.

Wu Yuyun also had an unsightly expression, as those who had just died were all his soldiers.

"Then shoot a few arrows at them and drive them away."

Since Lu Xianzong had spoken, they had nothing more to say. They didn't have the ability to cross the river and fight alone, but they had the courage to shoot arrows across the river.

However, horse bows are generally softer and do not have as long a range as infantry bows. The wooden bridge over Shahe River is about eighty meters away. By the time the arrows flew over, they had no power left. Some arrows pierced the opposite bank of the river, and some fell directly into the river. This move not only failed to deter the enemy, but instead caused the Shengwu Army on the opposite side to laugh and shout that the Tartars had not eaten.

The Yuan army was helpless and their morale was not very high, but the Shengwu army on the other side only confronted them at the bridgehead and did not cross the river. The two sides confronted each other on both sides of the wooden bridge.

It was not until a soldier came from the rear to tell Lu Xianzong that the main force was about to arrive that he stood up on the stirrups, looked back, and saw the continuous flags and smoke, then waved his hand and said.

"The main force is coming up. We can't wait any longer. Follow me across the river."

"it is good!"

The three men had been ready to fight for a long time. Seeing Lu Xianzong leading the way, the other riders also followed him across the river. The cavalry of the Shengwu Army on the bridge on the opposite bank shot and retreated, and their resistance was not resolute.

After this group of 300 cavalrymen crossed the river, Lu Jin also came to meet them with the remaining 100 or so cavalrymen of the Shengwu Army. Two hundred cavalrymen against three hundred cavalrymen, this time Lu Jin did not continue to retreat, but instead showed an eager attitude to attack. Lu Xianzong and his men did not impulsively meet them in battle. The three hundred cavalrymen stayed at the bridgehead, leaving space for the army to cross the river and form a battle array.

After a while, a cloud of dust rose from the south bank of the Shahe River, and a long line of flags appeared on the horizon. The main force of the Yuan army had finally arrived. A scout rushed out of the team and came all the way to the north of the wooden bridge, called Lu Xianzong over, and soon came in front of Molunchi.

"What's the situation on the other side now? How many enemy troops are there?"

Lu Xianzong immediately reported, "Only 200 cavalrymen have appeared. It is unclear whether there are any hidden bandits. However, the wooden bridge is still in our hands. The army can cross the river, but we must be prepared to meet the enemy."

Yesen, who was standing next to him, interrupted and said, "I will immediately organize the infantry to cross the river. Your cavalry must move forward immediately to drive away those bandit cavalrymen and scout out whether there are any ambushes ahead."

"Yes." Although Lu Xianzong was very reluctant, he had no choice but to agree. After all, he was just a small centurion, not even a thousand households, and there was no room for bargaining.

After Lu Xianzong left, Yesen Timur commanded the army to continue advancing and cross the river according to the original marching sequence. After crossing the river, do not continue to advance, but deploy the formation at the bridgehead. It will not be too late to march again after the cavalry has explored the situation clearly.

The generals of each department agreed and went to prepare.

On the north bank of the Shahe wooden bridge, Lu Xianzong and his two companions received the order and could no longer slack off. They had to bite the bullet and go to fight Lu Jin.

Lu Jin and his men gave them face. They fought back while slowly retreating. However, after they retreated a mile, they stopped retreating and instead ran back and forth horizontally, refusing to take another step back.

Mainly the large forces of the Shengwu Army were hiding in the villages and woods. Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment was in the village, and Miao Daheng's Twelfth Regiment was in the woods on the east side. The two regiments were only two or three miles away from the bridgehead.

The artillery team was hidden on a small mound on the west side with its back to the woods, only two miles away from the bridgehead. If Lu Jin and his men retreated further, the large force might be discovered by the Yuan army's scouts.

Lu Xianzong found that Lu Jin and his men were just harassing and retreating, and did not continue to provoke him as before, and he became even more alert. His intuition on the battlefield told him that the Red Turban Army must be up to something, so he was extremely cautious and did not fight to the death with Lu Jin.

Behind them, Yesen Timur was standing guard at the wooden bridge on horseback, watching the armored soldiers in the front army quickly advance. In the front was a team of 200 archers, followed by two rows of swordsmen and shieldmen, and further back were spearmen. Each team advanced layer by layer, clearly in a battle formation, with a strong sense of defensiveness.

He saw that the cavalry of the Shengwu Army on the opposite side had never been driven away, but were cruising back and forth within a range of one or two miles, and he guessed what tricks the other side might have.

But his military strength was obviously superior to that of the enemy, and Tongcheng must not have been taken at this time, so the Red Turbans could not allocate too many troops to stop him. So he did not hesitate, but ordered the front army to remain vigilant, advance after crossing the river, and then line up to wait for the rear army.

The vanguard generals Li Sili and Jia Boying agreed and immediately led their troops to the north bank to form a battle line.

Lu Jin was overjoyed when he saw this. The enemy had finally fallen into his trap, and it was worth it that he had been acting here for so long.

The 4,000 soldiers of the Yuan army's vanguard quickly crossed the river to the north bank, and after deploying less than a mile in front of the bridgehead, the 3,000 soldiers of the left army also crossed the river, followed by the central army led by Molunchi and Yesen. By the time their central army also crossed the river and formed a battle line, Yesen no longer had any fear in his heart.

Now his formation is half completed, and there is a wooden bridge behind him as a retreat. Even if thousands of enemy troops appear now, they can't do anything to him.

Soon after, 3,000 soldiers of the right army also began to cross the bridge. Now the force crossing the river has reached three phalanxes, totaling 10,000 people. There are still 3,000 soldiers of the right army and 2,000 soldiers of the rear army left on the south bank, a total of 5,000 people. According to the battle plan, it is time to block the bridge.

Guo Zixing and Miao Daheng, who were hiding in the dark, had sweaty palms. The army behind them had already put on armor and lined up, waiting for Lu Jin's order.

As more and more Yuan soldiers crossed the river, with the support of a large infantry formation behind them, the 300 cavalrymen who had crossed the river earlier became more and more bold, and began to push the 200 cavalrymen led by Lu Jin further north.

Ye Sheng ran over anxiously at this time, "Marshal, why don't you do it?"

"The enemy has too many troops left on the other side. It's hard to stop them with only 600 cavalry. Let them come over. We will retreat to the western artillery team. Be careful not to block the firing range. Let everyone go behind the mound!"

"Yes, follow me." Ye Sheng shouted and immediately led his soldiers to retreat.

On the northwest side of the north bank of the bridge, on the mound facing the bridge, Yang Huan and others had been aiming at the target for a long time. The fuse on the ignition fork was also burning slowly, and the gunner holding the ignition fork had to blow it from time to time to prevent the fuse from accidentally going out.

They only had ten guns, of which six eight-jin cannons were used to attack the main force of the infantry. The two 14-jin short-barreled howitzers could not hit the enemy here because of their short range, so they were deployed on both sides of the artillery position and loaded with shotgun shells, ready to use cross fire to attack the enemy approaching the position.

The two 155mm caliber, 23-jin heavy howitzers became the core of the firepower for blocking the wooden bridge. Both guns were loaded with shrapnel shells, which had been pre-aimed at the wooden bridge according to the firing table. The shrapnel shells were also placed at the muzzles, waiting for only the order to ignite the fuse and push the shells into the barrel.

The two heavy artillery pieces were commanded by Qin Jinglin himself. They were always aimed at the wooden bridge and were also watching Lu Jin's every move. Lu Jin had agreed with them before that as soon as he waved the red flag, they would immediately open fire.

Seeing that Lu Jin and his cavalry were being pressed closer and closer, many of the cavalry went around the east side of the mound. Only Lu Jin and a few cavalrymen quickly headed west, with a dozen Yuan army cavalrymen chasing them from behind.

Lu Jin pulled out the rolled up red flag from his arms, shook his right hand, unfolded the triangular red flag, and waved the flag violently as he passed in front of the artillery position, and stood up in the stirrups and shouted.

"fire!"

The one chasing after him was none other than Lu Xianzong, a centurion of the Yuan army. When he saw Lu Jin's strange behavior, he realized that he was obviously sending a signal to someone. He suddenly became very nervous and immediately stretched his head to look around.

As a result, at this moment, the ambush troops were not seen, but two loud noises like thunder were heard from the mound in front of the woods on the right. Then two black shadows flew out one after the other, with a trail of white smoke hanging behind them. It drew a graceful arc in the sky and flew straight towards the wooden bridge.

Lu Xianzong was a little dumbfounded. He guessed that there might be an ambush, but he didn't expect that the ambush would launch an attack in this situation.

In the time it took to turn his head, the two cannonballs had already flown far away. Although Lu Xianzong did not see clearly, he guessed that they should be weapons such as catapults or muskets. How much use could such a thing have?

The corners of his mouth just curled up, and he was about to mock these red scarves for going to so much trouble just to make such a thing, but the scene that followed almost made him drop his jaw in shock.

Three thousand soldiers of the Yuan army's right army were crossing the bridge. They had just crossed half of the bridge. The right army's deputy general Yao Zhu was leading the rest of the soldiers across the bridge. At this moment, two smoking iron balls drew an arc in the sky and landed accurately on their heads.

Before the soldiers could react, they heard a loud bang, like thunder in the sky exploding in their ears, followed by another loud bang.

The wooden bridge was not very wide to begin with, at most three or four meters, barely wide enough for a carriage to pass through and only wide enough for four rows of vehicles to pass through. After two explosions, all the soldiers in the middle of the bridge were gone, and the thick white smoke dissipated, leaving only broken limbs and arms on the ground, some blurry flesh that could not be distinguished, hanging in all directions on the bridge railings, and a big hole in the wooden bridge deck was blown out.

Of the two shrapnel shells just now, one exploded in the air, and the other exploded on the bridge deck. These two shells killed at least thirty to fifty people, and the entire middle section of the bridge deck was completely cleared out.

Such a sudden and strange attack stunned the Yuan army on both sides of the wooden bridge. Yesen also turned back to look in the direction of the wooden bridge and asked the guards around him in confusion, "What happened just now?"

(End of this chapter)