Daqin Engineering Corps

The wolf's mouth is indeed dangerous.

In particular, Yinshan Mountain has a characteristic, that is, it is gentle in the north and steep in the south.

That is to say, the side of Yinshan Mountain close to the Xiongnu is relatively flat, gradually leaning towards the Mongolian Plateau.

The side close to the Hetao, that is, the Central Plains, is very steep. The altitude of more than 1000 meters drops directly to the Hetao Plain, forming countless cliffs as if cut by a knife.

On such terrain, it is almost impossible to stand in the north, and the Qin army cannot cross.

However, if the Qin army wanted to enter the Mongolian plateau from "Langkou", it would have to go all the way through the valley formed by Yinshan and Yangshan.

The gentle hillsides on both sides provided an excellent geographical advantage for the Xiongnu to encircle and attack the Qin army.

But Mouton shook his head and said:

"Do you think that the Qin army with strong crossbows, three-bow bed crossbows, and 'shocking thunder' would not dare to go north because of the wolf's mouth?"

Mouton is right.

Although the Xiongnu can shoot farther with their bows and arrows at high places, the Qin army is equipped with a large number of strong crossbows, and the range of this strong crossbow is almost twice that of the Huns' bows and arrows.

In this way, even if the Xiongnu occupy a geographical advantage, it is still the Huns who can defeat the Qin army, and the Qin army can also defeat the Xiongnu.

In addition, Qin Jun also has a three-bow bed crossbow that can launch "thunderbolt fireballs"... This wolf mouth really can't stop Qin Jun.

Ji Porridge couldn't help but wonder:

"Shan Yu, why didn't the Qin army go north from the mouth of the wolf?"

Mouton answered thoughtfully:

"It's because of our speed."

"Because we can withdraw at any time."

"Because we can go anywhere they can't find or chase."

"Then suddenly concentrate our forces to attack their weak spots!"

It should be said that Mao Dun Shanyu's analysis is quite correct.

The cavalry has this advantage in the grassland, and this place is destined to be the world of the cavalry.

The cavalry here is "the sky is high and the birds are flying, and the sea is wide and the fish are leaping."

It is easy to escape to a place in such an empty grassland, as long as there is water and grass to feed the horses.

If the Huns were short of food, they could make up for a few days even by drinking mare's milk.

However, trying to find an army on such a large grassland would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So from the very beginning, the Xiongnu and the Qin army were seriously out of balance in terms of tactical difficulty... The former fled, while the latter looked for it.

You can run away at will, but you can't find it even if you are exhausted.

However, the Xiongnu, who had lived in the grassland for a long time, could send out cavalry to reconnaissance to judge the supply line of the Qin army, and then go around to the rear to concentrate their forces to attack.

On the grassland, this tactic is almost unsolvable.

Ji Porridge asked puzzledly:

"Since that's the case, why is Shan Yu worried?"

Mo Dun Shanyu walked a few steps, looked at the gunpowder workshop outside the tent and the mine in the distance, and said:

"If we were to preserve these mines for gunpowder, we would no longer have these tactical advantages!"

Only then did Ji Congee let out an "oh" and suddenly realized.

The cavalry can go and the tents can be dismantled, but the mines and gunpowder workshops cannot be taken away.

At most, the Xiongnu just took away some finished products "shocking thunder".

But after that?

The Qin army will soon occupy these mines and workshops.

With the personality of the Qin army, perhaps a city will be built here for a long-term garrison.

Or simply blow up the mine.

If the Xiongnu repaired the mine and resumed production, the Qin army would bomb it again.

unless……

The Huns guarded here.

But doing so was in line with Qin Jun's wishes, and Qin Jun was worried that he could not find the main force of the Huns.

and so……

Mao Dun shook his head and said:

"It's not a long-term solution."

"We can't let Qin Jun know about this."

"Otherwise, the mine will not be guaranteed."

Mao Dun was right, the Xiongnu really couldn't defend these mines, they had never been good at defending them.

But at the same time, Mouton was wrong.

Shen Bing just discovered that the gunpowder formula was stolen, so how could he not have thought of the problem of the mine.

But looking for mines is actually very simple, and it must be on the Yinshan line.

So Shen Bing sent spies to the north of Yinshan Mountain for reconnaissance...

The method of reconnaissance is to let the herdsmen who can speak the language of the Huns be spies. Anyway, the Huns have no household registration, and the herdsmen cannot tell if they can speak their language.

Chapter 368 Sneak Attack

Yinshan has been regarded as the dividing line between the nomadic people in the north and the farming people in the south since ancient times.

An ancient poem wrote: "But let the flying generals of Dragon City stay, and don't let Huma cross the Yinshan Mountain."

This Yinshan refers to the Yinshan Mountains to the north of Hetao.

Once the northern nomads are strong, they will cross the Yin Mountains and go south to invade the Central Plains.

If the Central Plains becomes stronger, it will drive the Huns back and even cross the Yinshan Mountains to attack the Huns in the north.

At this time, Shen Bing didn't want to cross the Yin Mountain to attack the Huns...

This is what Mao Dun has been worried about, but in practice, it doesn't need to be so labor-intensive.

It would be easy for the spies to find the location of the Xiongnu mine.

Shen Bing sent a team of hundreds to climb Yinshan Mountain to occupy the commanding heights... The north slope is indeed steeper

, but the steepness is just that the army and supplies cannot climb over, it does not mean that the infantry cannot climb up.

What's more, Qin Jun also has a thing called Suojian, which is a Suojian fired with a three-bow bed crossbow.

So no matter how steep or even the cliff is in front of him, with the help of arrows and ropes, Qin Jun can easily go up the mountain...

This is also thanks to the trees in the south of Yinshan Mountain.

In the south of Yinshan Mountain, there are many trees because of the sufficient rainfall and sufficient sunlight.

In the north, there are only vegetation and shrubs because of the lack of rain and light.

Therefore, the plants on the north and south sides are quite different.

Because there are trees in the south, the cable arrow can be used very well: aim at a tree, shoot the cable arrow with a whoosh, and the barb on it will hook the tree.

With the rope to climb it is not a problem.

It doesn't matter if there are no trees on the cliff, and the three-bow bed crossbow can also be solved.

It's just that the iron crossbow arrows were used, and a "swish" was shot towards the cliff, and the iron crossbow arrows were ruthlessly inserted into the stone, and then "swish" one...

The Song Dynasty used this tactic to attack the city.

They shot a row of iron crossbow arrows at the enemy's city wall, and the iron crossbow arrows were inserted into the city wall to form a ladder, and then the soldiers could quickly climb up to the top of the city along the iron ladder.

Further up, if the three-bow bed crossbow can't go up, it doesn't matter. There are also small cable arrows for single-man crossbow arrows.

On the rope, let a soldier who is good at climbing go up first, and then pull up the rope ladder and fix it firmly, so that others can pick up the ladder and go up.

The 100 people did not act immediately after climbing to the commanding heights.

They built fortifications on the top of the mountain according to the terrain, using stones and logs to build cities in dangerous places.

There is no need to worry about being discovered by the Huns.

Shen Bing estimated the distance, and the commanding heights he occupied were at least two kilometers away from the Xiongnu's mine.

Moreover, Qin Bing was very careful when making the fortifications. The logs were usually processed here before being shipped up.

As for logs, supplies, etc. how to go up...

It is enough to set up pulleys on the top of the mountain, and the supplies at the bottom of the mountain are installed, and the ropes on the mountain are pulled, and the things go up.

To be precise, it is actually divided into several sections.

The reason is that the altitude of more than 1000 meters is a bit far away, and it is not realistic to transport it up at one time, so several relay points were set up in the middle according to the terrain, and the supplies were transported up layer by layer.

Food, crossbow arrows, etc. were quickly piled up in the warehouses of the Walled City, and then the dismantled three-bow bed crossbow and trebuchet...the logs were transported up in the same state, and then assembled on the mountain.

Once you occupy the commanding heights, the overall situation is settled.

Shen Bing knew very well that the commanding heights meant everything to the mountains, especially since Qin Jun still had a strong crossbow in his hand.

Then the Qin army went up with another 200 people, using the commanding heights as a cover to advance a few hundred steps towards the mine, and also built two walled cities that could provide mutual fire protection according to the terrain.

It took ten days in total.

Then the Qin army launched an attack on the Xiongnu mine.

In fact, it is not a mine, but a gunpowder workshop of the Huns.

Perhaps for the convenience of production, the gunpowder workshop of the Huns was built at the foot of the mountain.

Qin Jun sneaked to the vicinity of the gunpowder workshop from the flanks, and then 300 people fired their crossbows together, loaded them with crossbow arrows wrapped with turpentine linen cloth, and after lighting them, they gave an order, and the crossbow arrows shot towards the gunpowder workshop.

The gunpowder workshops of the Huns are also interesting. They are actually several large tents... This is determined by the lack of trees in the north of Yinshan Mountain, and it may also be the habit of the Huns.

So this round of rockets has passed?

The rocket "swish" directly through the tent, leading the fire into its interior.

Then there was only a loud "boom", and several tents were blown up on the spot without even a trace left.

This even shocked Qin Jun...

Although they knew it would explode, they didn't expect such power. The slaves making gunpowder in the tent and the Hun soldiers guarding nearby were thrown high into the air and then fell heavily.

There were even a lot of gravel and sand flying towards Qin Jun.

Qin Jun was stunned by the scene, his ears were buzzing, and some people even staggered when they walked.

At the same time, Mao Dun Shanyu who was nearby was also frightened.

He was camping not far away with his personal guards.

He always thought that the Qin army had to pass through the wolf's mouth, so he sent spies at the wolf's mouth. In addition, he dispatched [-] cavalry to let King Youxian guard the exit.

If the small troops of the Qin army come, they will be wiped out, and if the large troops come, they will retreat.

Therefore, Mao Dun was very reassured about the mines on the Yinshan side, and only sent more than a hundred people to guard and supervise the slaves and craftsmen.

At this time, Mao Dun was thinking about the problem of the mine.

He even wanted to dig some more ore and store it for a rainy day.

This idea is good, no one wants their resources and equipment to be controlled by others.

If controlled by others, then these resources and equipment are equivalent to none.

The problem is that there are not many mines discovered, there is only one saltpeter mine and two sulfur mines.

At the same time, the entrance of the mine is not big, so even if there are more people, the mining speed will not increase much.