The First Family of the Red Mansion

Chapter 18 Sneaking into the Camp

"General, the Oirat people have retreated!"

"call!"

Liu Hu leaned against the city wall and took a deep breath. He looked up at the person who had come to him. This person was also a soldier of the Great Zhou who had gone to war with Liu Hu.

Zhao Changjiu, a very ordinary name, was a man in his twenties from Chang'an. Because his previous commander had died, Liu Hu thought he was quite steady and appointed him to temporarily take over the position of commander.

"Take a headcount as soon as possible, treat the wounded, send people to inspect the city's defenses, and tell everyone to be careful so that the Oirat people don't have any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

After Liu Hu issued a series of orders, Zhao Changjiu did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked Liu Hu, who was covered in blood, with concern, "General, what about you here?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll handle this myself." Liu Hu waved his hand, looking somewhat tired.

"By the way, how's the west side?" Liu Hu asked again just as Zhao Changjiu was about to leave.

"Although there were more enemies in the west, the vast majority of them were from the Western Regions, so the Oirat people did not dare to press them too hard and retreated after attacking for an hour."

"That's good!"

Liu Hu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Fortunately, the Oirat people were traveling light and in a hurry and did not bring any cannons. Otherwise, the low rammed earth walls of Yangguan would have been destroyed in just a few rounds of cannon fire.

"hiss!"

After Zhao Changjiu left, Liu Hu felt a sharp pain in his ribs and couldn't help but gasp.

He looked down and realized that someone had cut a gash in his armor through a gap, and he was now slumped on the ground, the edge of the armor touching the wound.

Liu Hu hurriedly and secretly drank some of the spiritual water from his spatial storage, and only then did he feel a little better.

As darkness fell, it meant the Oirat siege was over for the day.

"General, we now have less than 10,000 defenders left, including some lightly wounded."

During dinner, Zhao Changjiu tallied up the day's losses and immediately came over to report.

"So many soldiers have been lost on the very first day!"

Upon hearing Zhao Changjiu's report, Liu Hu immediately frowned, his expression becoming very serious.

"Fortunately, we rescued several thousand Han people some time ago, otherwise the pressure would have been even greater." Zhao Changjiu also looked relieved.

If they had only relied on their original 10,000 men, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for even half a month.

The Oirat people were almost frantic in their desire to reclaim their supplies as quickly as possible, especially the elite Oirat troops in the east. After arriving, they only rested briefly before immediately launching an attack on the city.

"I wonder how things are at Yumen Pass?" Liu Hu looked north, a vague unease creeping into his heart.

On the Yumen Pass side, the Oirat people had just finished a day of siege.

Hu Cunmeng walked on the city wall with his face covered in soot, accompanied by Putila. Although the walls of Yumen Pass were taller and thicker than those of Yangguan Pass, it was the main supply route for the three tribes of Durbet and a key target for the Oirat attack.

In particular, the Durbet tribe, which was located right next to Yumen Pass, was forced by the Oirat people in the west to attack the city by sacrificing the heads of several Western Region commanders in order to quickly open up their own supply lines.

Fortunately, Liu Hu left a lot of forces here, otherwise this place would probably not have been able to withstand a single day of strong attacks from the Oirat people.

At this moment, Hu Cunmeng looked solemn, ignoring the smoke and fire on his face, and carefully inspected each cannon position.

That's right, the Oirats also stored cannons here. Although they were ancient relics from before the Ming Dynasty, they were still usable for defending the city, since the Oirats didn't have any better cannons.

Although Hu Cunmeng was not very skilled in martial arts, he was very knowledgeable about the use of firearms. Just now, he was the one who commanded these cannons to repel several attacks by the Oirat people from the west.

The eastern side was defended by the even more valiant Putira.

"Be careful over here. Keep the gunpowder away from the cannon. Don't accidentally set it on fire, or none of the soldiers around here will be able to escape."

"Understood, General!"

As Hu Cunmeng inspected the area, he gave instructions, since many of these people were participating in combat for the first time. If their hands trembled, it would all be over.

"Commander Hu, it seems the Oirat people at the front are about to run out of food, otherwise they wouldn't be so willing to risk casualties to try and recapture the supplies."

Putila followed behind Hu Cunmeng, her body still covered in bloodstains, but her face looked relaxed.

"It's still early. The Oirat's supply lines have only been cut off for a few days. Not to mention their own stored grain, even if they run out of food, they can requisition grain locally."

"Therefore, when General Liu left, he ordered us to hold out for a month."

Hu Cunmeng, with his more meticulous mind, understood that this battle would not be easy for them!

However, compared to Yumen Pass, he was more worried about the situation at Yang Pass.

At least they have tens of thousands of people assisting in the defense of the city, so the soldiers still have time to rest.

But on the other side of Yangguan, there were only the ten thousand or so men that Liu Hu had brought, and the city was low-lying, making it easier for the Oirat people to break through.

If either of these two passes fails to hold, then all their previous sacrifices will have been in vain.

.........

As time went by, the Oirat people became increasingly anxious, and the pressure on Liu Hu and Hu Cunmeng grew.

On Liu Hu's side, there are less than three thousand people left to defend the city, while the Oirat people have brought in more and more troops from the rear, and the enemy in the west has exceeded fifty thousand.

It was clear that the Oirats also knew to target the weakest link. After failing to see results at Yumen Pass in a short time, they shifted their focus to Yang Pass, which was easier to conquer.

"General, can we hold out until the Oirat forces run out of food?"

Even Zhao Changjiu seemed to have lost his initial composure and become confused.

At this point, he was covered in bandages and could no longer participate in the battle.

As he was being carried away, he stared blankly at the sky and asked Liu Hu a question.

"Yes, definitely. Don't forget, the commander and his men are still fighting the Oirat people up ahead. I'm afraid they'll be defeated before the Oirat people run out of supplies. Then, I'll take the brothers home."

"go home……"

This word seemed to touch Zhao Changjiu's heart, and a glimmer of light returned to his empty eyes.

"Yes, let's go home."

Liu Hu nodded firmly.

At this time, his condition was not good either. The mountain armor bestowed upon him by Emperor Anping was now tattered and worn out. He could not hide the fatigue on his face, and he had more than a dozen wounds of varying severity on his body.

The most serious incident was being grazed by a stone thrown by a cannonball from the Oirat people.

That one blow almost killed Liu Hu. Even with the help of spatial spiritual water and lapis lazuli to help him recover, he still had to stay in bed for three days.

Those who were still standing on the city wall at this time were all injured, some more or less.

If Liu Hu hadn't been standing on the city wall, everyone would probably have collapsed long ago.

"Alright, you should focus on recovering from your injuries. By the time you're able to get out of bed, the commander and his men will have already defeated the main force of the Oirat army."

Liu Hu smiled with relief, wanting to pat him on the shoulder to comfort him, but couldn't find a good place to do so.

As Zhao Changjiu was carried away, a look of solemnity appeared on Liu Hu's face.

Although he spoke casually just now, ultimately it's better to rely on yourself than on others. Given their current situation, they can only hold on for three days at most. If the main force hasn't decided the winner yet, they won't be able to hold on.

Meanwhile, the Oirat people were becoming increasingly impatient, as their western enemies had begun a relentless siege of the city day and night for the past two days.

Liu Hu turned to one of his personal guards and asked, "What's the situation on the east side?"

"Reporting to the general, it seems the Oirat people in the east have run out of steam; they only attacked for one day this afternoon before stopping."

Liu Hu and his men suffered heavy losses, but the Oirat people, as the attackers, suffered even greater losses.

Especially in the east, there were occasional reinforcements at the beginning, but in the last two days, we haven't seen any enemy reinforcements from the east.

This indicates that the main force of the Oirat army no longer had enough troops to support this side.

"Could it be...?"

"Summon Commander Qin over here!"

"yes!"

"General!"

Before long, Commander Qin rushed over. He was over forty years old and was considered a veteran in Liu Hu's army.

Perhaps because he was born in Jiangnan and was not part of the founding line, he did not have a good relationship with other military generals.

But Liu Hu didn't care about that. Although this man came from Jiangnan, he was still full of tricks. Although he was taciturn, Liu Hu could tell that he had a lot on his mind.

During this period, without his assistance, even if Liu Hu were incredibly capable, it would have been difficult for him to simultaneously guard against our enemies on both the east and west sides.

Although Zhao Changjiu was composed, he was ultimately limited by his background and had not received specialized training. His battlefield reaction was far inferior to that of Qin Qianhu, who had received systematic education.

"Don't rush, have a sip of water first."

When Liu Hu saw him coming over and noticed the bloodstains on his body, he quickly handed him a bowl of water.

He mixed some spiritual water from his spatial realm into the water. Although it wouldn't speed up their recovery, it would at least reduce the risk of them getting tetanus.

It wasn't that Liu Hu didn't want to give him the spiritual water from his space directly, but rather that there wasn't enough.

At the beginning of the defense of the city, Liu Hu secretly mixed a little water from his spatial dimension into the water given to the wounded, which at that time had a slight effect on their recovery.

But later, everyone was injured, and Liu Hu's little bit of water wasn't enough, so he had to keep adding more water.

"ha!"

After finishing his water, Commander Qin let out a deep breath.

"What are your thoughts on the unusual movements of the Oirat people to the east?" Liu Hu asked.

"General, I believe the Oirat people can't wait any longer."

Qin Qianhu wiped the water from his mouth and then replied seriously.

"Judging from the situation in the past two days, something must have happened on the commander's side, otherwise the Oirat people would not have been able to neglect their supply lines and send no reinforcements."

"The Oirat people to the east seem to know this too, and they ended their siege early today. I'm afraid they'll make a big move tonight."

Qin Qianhu said with certainty, seemingly very confident in his analysis.

Liu Hu nodded; Qin Qianhu's view coincided with his own.

"Since that's the case, then we can't just wait for the Oirats to prepare themselves. This time, we'll strike first." Liu Hu patted the table in front of him.

He then stood up and paced around a few times: "How many Oirat people do you estimate are left in the east?"

"Less than five thousand!" Commander Qin said with certainty.

"Only five thousand people?" Liu Hu asked again.

"I can guarantee with my own head that the Oirat people to the east will not exceed five thousand."

"Alright, in that case, I'll leave you half the manpower. From now on, you'll be responsible for guarding the enemy on the west side."

"I will lead the remaining half of my troops out of the city and give the Oirat people to the east a good beating."

Liu Hu said to Qin Qianhu.

"No, General. Although the Oirat forces to the east number less than five thousand, we can only muster a maximum of two thousand men. Moreover, all our men are wounded. Launching an attack would be like lambs to the slaughter!"

Upon hearing Liu Hu's plan, Qin Qianhu immediately stood up and hurriedly tried to stop him, even tearing open his already bandaged wound.

"Be careful, look, the wound has reopened!" Liu Hu hurriedly stepped forward and pressed him back into the chair, then arranged for someone to find a doctor to treat him.

After Commander Qin quieted down, Liu Hu sighed helplessly: "Commander Qin, according to your calculations, even if we don't launch a preemptive strike, how long can we hold out?"

"No more than five days," Qin Qianhu said hesitantly after thinking for a moment.

"Five days?" Liu Hu looked at him and asked, "Do you think we can hold out for five more days?"

"If the soldiers' morale is high, five days is not out of the question."

"But now, as the war continues, everyone is wounded, and the Oirat people to the west are constantly reinforcing their troops. If we cannot quickly defeat the enemy from one direction, in three days..."

"At most three days, everyone will be unable to hold on."

As Liu Hu spoke, his tone turned somber: "Today, Commander Zhao was seriously injured. When he was carried away, there wasn't a glimmer of hope on his face."

"Even he's like this, do you think we can hold out for another five days?"

"What we need to do now is to win a victory to boost everyone's morale."

"So execute the order!"

Liu Hu issued the military order in a firm and uncompromising manner.

"Yes, General!"

As night fell, in contrast to the deafening shouts of battle in the west, the east was unusually quiet tonight.

At this moment, at the east gate of Yangguan, Liu Hu and his two thousand soldiers rode on horseback, watching the soldiers move the stone blocks blocking the gate one by one, their eyes filled with murderous intent and determination.

After more than twenty days of fighting, even those laborers who were rescued back then have now become qualified veterans.

The fear of the Oirat people that I once felt has turned into a deep-seated hatred.

They were not afraid of death. Since they were going to die anyway, they would use their own deaths to avenge their loved ones who had died tragically at the hands of the Oirats. That would be a death without regrets.

As the city gates opened, Liu Hu took the lead, leading the Zhou soldiers who had launched the surprise attack that night out in single file.

As Liu Hu got closer to the Oirat camp, he found that the Oirat people were extremely arrogant, thinking that Liu Hu would not launch a sneak attack on them or something, and there wasn't even a single sentry.

The Oirat camp was brightly lit, and the Oirat soldiers were singing and dancing around the campfire, as if they were having a final celebration before their death battle.