Chapter 737: Chapter 572 Crossing Menghe Mountain_2
"If the task proves impossible, retreat back to Dinghu Guard immediately, don’t worry about us!"
Yang Zhenshan summoned Tang Feihu and Niu Zhuang, instructing them in detail.
After listening, the two replied, "Marquis, rest assured, we will proceed with caution."
After setting up everything, the very next morning Yang Zhenshan led the front, middle, and rear battalions of Chongshan Town troops northwards in separate divisions.
At that time, every soldier in the three battalions had two horses each, and even the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry had three horses per person, while the heavily armored infantry also had three horses each.
The total force of the three battalions comprised 18,000 troops, but there were also 6,000 auxiliary soldiers, which made the total force 24,000 strong.
And they also brought with them over 60,000 warhorses.
They only carried ten days’ worth of food and forage, which was not enough for them to reach Yemi City, but that was the most they could carry without affecting the speed of the march.
As to what to do after the food and forage were exhausted, Yang Zhenshan had also figured it out: if they encountered any small tribes along the way, they would rob them; if no small tribe was encountered, they would slaughter the horses for meat.
Keeping half of the 60,000 warhorses would be enough; they could certainly kill 30,000 horses for food.
While Yang Zhenshan was leading his army to circle north of Menghe Mountain, Tang Wuxi also arrived at East Que Pass.
Inside East Que Pass, when Tang Wuxi received the news of the Wula Clan’s escape, his face turned red with anger.
"These ungrateful curs have actually run away at a critical moment!"
"A bunch of damned bastards!"
Tang Wuxi cursed for a quarter of an hour before stopping, "Once I repel the army of Chongshan Town, I will surely make the Wula Clan pay!"
There was nothing he could do about the Wula Clan now; they’d all run away and obviously he couldn’t send people to chase after them.
Not to mention whether they could catch up, even if they did, it’s likely the Wula Clan wouldn’t return and might even kill his men.
"Where’s the army of Chongshan Town now?"
After his anger had abated somewhat, he asked his subordinates.
"They are southeast of Sari Lake. They are estimated to reach Sari Lake in five days and enter the area outside East Que Pass in eight days," reported an officer.
East Que Pass is located at the eastern part of Menghe Mountain Pass, more than ten miles away from the entrance to Menghe Mountain Pass. Standing on the walls of East Que Pass, one can overlook the entire entrance of Menghe Mountain Pass.
And the location for the camp that Yang Zhenshan had selected for Tang Feihu was right at the entry to the mountain pass.
They would block the entrance to the mountain pass preventing the Chi Ci Tribe from exiting and hence only facing enemies from one side at their encampment.
The Chi Ci Tribe wanted to use East Que Pass to hinder the army of Chongshan Town, while the army of Chongshan Town also wanted to seal off the exit of the mountain pass, cutting off any news from the east of Menghe Mountain for the Chi Ci Tribe.
At this moment, Tang Wuxi naturally was unaware of Yang Zhenshan’s intentions; he merely ordered, "Hurry up with the war preparations and cut down all the trees outside the pass city!"
Destroying whatever could aid the enemy, they chopped down the trees outside the pass city to prevent the army of Chongshan Town from building siege equipment. Now, the hills outside of East Que Pass had become barren.
The majority of tall trees had been clear-cut, leaving only bushes and weeds.
Tang Feihu and Niu Zhuang, following the instructions of Yang Zhenshan, marched at a measured pace. When they arrived at the entrance to the mountain pass, ten days had passed, which was two days later than Tang Wuxi had anticipated.
Upon reaching the entrance to the mountain pass, they dispatched Scouts as ordered by Yang Zhenshan, and then began to set up and fortify the camp.
Since the trees nearby had been cut down, they went further afield to chop wood, steadily fortifying the camp.
Tang Feihu and Yang Mingzhi came to the entrance of Menghe Mountain Pass, scope in hand, looking at East Que Pass.
The two examined carefully and then fell into silence. After a long while, Tang Feihu said, "Ah, no wonder the Marquis didn’t order us to attack; it’s simply impregnable!"
Yang Mingzhi also looked dejected; East Que Pass was truly formidable.
The walls of East Que Pass weren’t very high, roughly twenty feet, but both sides of East Que Pass were flanked by steep cliffs, and there were numerous forts on the slopes, from which stones could be hurled directly at the valley below.
To attack East Que Pass, one first had to take those forts, otherwise, they would be subjected to attacks from three sides during the siege.
And the locations of those forts were extremely steep; not to mention attacking, even for regular soldiers trying to climb them would take considerable effort.
"Let’s just stay put here honestly," Yang Mingzhi said helplessly.
After being chastised by Yang Zhenshan, he had given up on the idea of competing for glory.
The two of them observed for a while longer, then returned to the camp to reinforce the fortifications.
They first built the wall on the west side of the camp, along with a gate that made it seem as though this was the front of the camp, but in fact, they had dug three trenches behind the wall. The gate could be used, with pontoon bridges over the trenches, and every day soldiers would leave the camp to scout the situation at East Que Pass.
Their camp was very large, extending for more than ten miles, fully capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
But in reality, there were only twenty thousand soldiers and twenty thousand civilian workers in the camp, with another ten thousand soldiers guarding the supply lines and not present in the camp.
Every day inside and outside the camp bustled with activity, with a large number of Scouts patrolling the outside, a great many soldiers patrolling inside the tents, and numerous civilian workers felling trees in the distant woods to build siege engines.
It looked as though they were preparing for a siege.
Tang Wuxi laughed contemptuously at these preparations; he was not afraid of Chongshan Town’s army building siege equipment, as the longer the delay, the more it played to his advantage.
As for the siege itself, he had no worries at all, for he could simply abandon East Que Pass.
Behind East Que Pass, there was Central Que Pass. With one pass able to hold off Chongshan Town for two to three months, two passes could block them for half a year.
After half a year, winter would arrive, and heavy snow would cover Menghe Mountain, making it impossible for Chongshan Town’s army to mount an offensive.
Furthermore, considering such a delay, the consumption of Chongshan Town’s army’s supplies would be immense, which would be extremely disadvantageous for them.
Therefore, he was not scared of Chongshan Town’s army dragging their feet; the more they delayed, the happier he was.
Leaving aside Tang Wuxi’s easy mood, let’s turn to Yang Mingzhen and Yang Chengze, who had led the left and right camps across Menghe Mountain in eleven days, finally reaching the western side of Menghe Mountain.
The journey was extremely arduous. The path they followed could hardly be called a road; most places they traversed were slopes, some of which were incredibly steep and barely passable.
Along the way, they lost more than three hundred soldiers, most of whom fell from the cliffs with their fate unknown, and a small number got injured during the march and had to stay behind to recuperate.
To protect those injured soldiers, they also had to leave over two hundred soldiers to look after them.
And that was just the soldiers; they lost even more horses.
Thousands of warhorses tumbled down the cliffs, and another thousand were injured, left behind in the wilderness.
The soldiers were exhausted in body and soul over the course of the journey.
However, when they stood on the mountainside, gazing at the endless grasslands to the west, everyone felt exhilarated once again.
"Damn it, we finally made it out. If we hadn’t seen the end, I would’ve thought we’d gotten lost in the mountains!" Yang Mingzhen exclaimed with a mix of laughter and swearing.
These past few days, the mental pressure had been immense; he was surrounded by towering peaks, with their path lying through deep chasms, no end or way out in sight.
Yang Chengze let out a deep breath and then revealed a brilliant smile.
"Now it’s our turn to make a big move!"
Yang Mingzhen smiled as well, his smile particularly ferocious.
Having suffered so greatly, now that they had finally made it out, the pent-up frustration in their hearts was ready to be unleashed.
Moreover, they were running low on dry rations; not only did they need to vent their inner frustrations, but they also needed to plunder supplies from the settlements.
"Issue the order, rest for the night, and emerge from the mountains tomorrow!" Yang Mingzhen commanded in a clear voice.
The soldiers searched for places to rest on the slopes, while many were also burying pots to cook.
There weren’t many iron pots to go around for cooking, just barely enough to boil some water to replenish the drinking water in the soldiers’ water bags.
Actually, the mountains weren’t short of water; the melting snow from the mountaintop was forming many rivers and streams. Most of the time, their travels were guided by these watercourses.