Chapter 967 Take the long view!

Looking at the silent 14th Division, Zhang Chongyun knew what they were thinking and immediately said:

“Everyone, our Royal Guard Battalion will be responsible for this night attack, but I need you to help me make a feint attack…”

Hearing what Zhang Chongyun said, several people from the 14th Division exchanged glances, and then Ye Fu asked:

"Commander Zhang, how do you want us to cooperate with you?"

Because of the failure of the previous night attack, Ye Fu was not very enthusiastic about Zhang Chongyun's idea of ​​a night attack. However, Zhang Chongyun was in a high position, and he proposed that the Royal Guard Battalion be responsible for the operation, so Ye Fu was prepared to let Zhang Chongyun give it a try.

After all, if Zhang Chongyun successfully blows up the enemy's Serban cannon, then the defense of Wugang Mountain will undoubtedly be much easier.

Zhang Chongyun also introduced after hearing this:
"Because of the previous night attack, the enemy has been very tight in defending their artillery positions and is on high alert. According to the scouts' observations, there are at least 5,000 enemy troops around the artillery positions. Therefore, if we want to take action, we need to lure the enemy away!"

"So my plan is to have your troops launch a feint attack at night, lure out the guards of the artillery position, and then launch a surprise attack!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Fu fell into deep thought, and the other three commanders of the 14th Division present at the meeting exchanged glances with each other again.

Zhang Chongyun’s plan still sounds very constructive, but it also raises the requirements for the 14th Division’s feint attack a lot······················
The Kipchaks on the other side were not stupid either. A feint attack by a small force would definitely not be able to lure them out. A feint attack force of at least 3,000 people would be needed to lure out the enemy.
At present, the 14th Division has only more than 7,000 soldiers and horses capable of fighting in Wugang Mountain, and the size of 3,000 people is almost half of it!

And most importantly, at night, due to the lack of visibility, the firearms that the Fengwu Army is best at can hardly play much of a role. Although the enemy's cavalry can hardly play a role, the enemy's Cuman Tiger Division, as the most elite force of the Cuman Khanate, is much stronger than the newly formed 14th Division in terms of individual combat capabilities.

Therefore, once too many troops are sent for a night attack, if it succeeds, everything will be fine. But if it fails, then it is very likely that under the impact of the enemy at night, it will turn into a large-scale rout!
It was precisely because of this that Ye Fu had only sent a force of about 500 enemy troops for a night attack, instead of sending too many troops.

So when they heard Zhang Chongyun's suggestion, several people including Ye Fu remained silent. After a moment, Sun Kai broke the silence and asked Zhang Chongyun:
"I wonder how many troops you plan to send to the night attack, Commander Zhang?"

Although Zhang Chongyun sensed the silence of Ye Fu and the others and realized that they might not support his idea, he still told the truth:
"I plan to send out 500 people, and I will lead the team myself to carry out this operation..."

Hearing Zhang Chongyun's words, Ye Fu couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Commander Zhang, you are very brave and have a very good idea, but given the current situation, we still need to think about the night attack carefully!"

Faced with Ye Fu's polite refusal, Zhang Chongyun seemed to want to say something, but at this time Ye Fu had already started asking several of his subordinates about logistical issues. Seeing the attitude of Ye Fu and his men, Zhang Chongyun couldn't help but sigh inwardly and shut up.

The next morning, just after the sun rose, the soldiers of the Cuman Tiger Division began to assemble at the command of Esiden. Soon, the shells from the Serban heavy artillery fell on the positions of the Fengwu Army. However, the soldiers of the 14th Division were accustomed to this kind of enemy bombardment and hid in the fortifications in advance.

Therefore, although the Serban heavy artillery seemed to be very powerful, its actual effect was not very good. A burst of artillery fire fired dozens of shells but only killed and injured dozens of Fengwu Army soldiers.

As a nomadic people of the grassland, the Kipchaks were very confident in their riding and archery skills. Therefore, even though they had a powerful weapon like the Serban heavy artillery, they did not study how to use it properly, but used it as an auxiliary weapon.

Therefore, the level of these Kipchak gunners was very limited, which also caused the accuracy of the Serban heavy artillery in their hands to be erratic···························

In such a situation, if soldiers launched a charge during the bombardment, it would be easy for them to hit their own people. This situation occurred many times in past wars and also caused some disputes within the Golden Horde.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem and avoid it from happening again, Asdogan directly ordered that in future battles, soldiers would not charge while bombarding, but would charge after the bombardment was over.

At this time, after a round of artillery bombardment ended, the Cuman soldiers launched an attack on the Fengwu Army's position on Wugang Mountain with a roar like a wild beast!
Facing this charge by the enemy, the Fengwu Army's Fengwu guns, Weiyuan guns, and tiger squat cannons also began firing, but as before, although these firearms could cause considerable damage to the enemy, it was difficult to suppress the attack of the Cuman Tiger Division.

Half an incense stick of time later, after paying the price of more than a hundred lives, the Cuman Tiger Division began to approach the Fengwu Army's camp, and the two sides began to engage in close combat.

Under the orders of generals at all levels, all soldiers of the Fengwu Army tried their best to maintain the formation with swordsmen and axemen in the front, spearmen next and musketeers at the end.

As for the Cumans, as people of the grassland, riding and archery seemed to be their innate instinct. Although their cavalry charges were restricted to a certain extent in the mountainous and hilly terrain of Wugang Mountain, their archery skills could still be performed normally. It must be said that the Cumans' archery was very accurate. Even if they could not hit the target every time, they could basically hit the target two out of three arrows. Under the cover of this rain of arrows, the soldiers of the Cuman Tiger Division had been trying to rely on their personal bravery to charge into the battle formation of the Fengwu Army.

The Cumans were well aware of their advantage in personal bravery, so as long as they could destroy the Fengwu Army's formation, they could give full play to their advantage. By then, it would be easy to defeat the Fengwu Army and capture Wugang Mountain!

Seeing that the soldiers' originally tight battle formation began to loosen under the constant attack and pull of the enemy, Ye Fu felt a sinking feeling in his heart when he saw this. He realized that the Cuman generals were not just there to do nothing. The fighting in the past few days also allowed the other side to find a way to deal with them.

Seeing that the soldiers under his command were finding it increasingly difficult to hold out under the constant attacks of the enemy, Ye Fu could not help but look at Zhang Chongyun beside him.

In the past few days, Zhang Chongyun and the soldiers of his personal guard camp have been acting as fire captains under Ye Fu's command, rushing to wherever there is danger!
Therefore, facing this situation, the first thing Ye Fu thought of was Zhang Chongyun’s role. Originally, Ye Fu did not intend to send Zhang Chongyun and the Royal Guard Battalion into battle so soon, but now it seems that there is no other choice····························
Feeling Ye Fu's gaze, Zhang Chongyun understood what the other party meant, and nodded heavily. Then he waved his hand, and hundreds of guards rushed out of the Fengwu Army camp. Their appearance immediately helped the Fengwu Army stabilize the front line.

However, at this moment, Esidogan in the Cuman army couldn't help but raise his lips slightly. He was waiting for this moment and immediately gave the order:

"Let the warriors start hunting! Let go of those ordinary Fengwu soldiers and focus on hunting down these Ye Mingsheng's personal guards!"

"Yes!"

As Esidogan's order was issued, the archers of the Cuman Tiger Division immediately let go of the 14th Division's Fengwu Army and aimed their arrows at the Royal Guard Battalion as much as possible. Compared with ordinary Fengwu Army soldiers, the Royal Guard Battalion soldiers had better equipment, which made them very easy to distinguish. With such precise hunting, more than a dozen Fengwu Army guards were soon hit by arrows.

Seeing this situation, the smile on Esidogan's face became even more intense. In his opinion, the Great Khan of the Cumans, the firearms of the Fengwu Army were indeed as powerful as the rumors said. In the past few days, they had caused considerable trouble and huge casualties to the elite Cuman Tiger Division.

But if that was the case, then the 14th Division would not have been able to hold on until now. Two or three days earlier, they would have been able to capture Wugang Mountain and capture Ye Mingsheng alive...

The most important reason why the Fengwu Army was able to hold out on Wugang Mountain for so long was the existence of the Fengwu Army’s personal guards!
Although as mortal enemies, Asdogan should not admire them, but as a warrior and a pure soldier, Asdogan admires Ye Mingsheng's personal guards very much!
Although these bodyguards are few in number, they are very brave and good at fighting. In the past nine days, whenever the Cuman Tiger Division was about to take Wugang Mountain, they would rush out to turn the tide and save the country from collapse!
If it weren't for Ye Mingsheng's personal guards, Aisiduoan felt that they could have taken Wugang Mountain at least three days earlier and seen the legendary Marshal Ye of the Fengwu Army trembling under his horse's hooves!

But unfortunately, due to the existence of these guards, the eagle flag of the Golden Horde has not been planted on the slopes of Wugang Mountain until today!

So last night, Asdogan changed his deployment after much reflection, thinking that he should give priority to attacking these Fengwu Army guards and inflict the greatest damage on them!
He believed that as long as he inflicted heavy casualties on these Fengwu Army guards and made them unable to act as firefighters in the Fengwu Army formation, then taking Wugang Mountain would be a matter of moments!

Watching his men fall one after another, Zhang Chongyun immediately realized the opponent's tactics, but he didn't have any particularly good ideas to deal with such tactics...

Just when Zhang Chongyun was thinking hard about countermeasures, Ye Fu suddenly had an idea and said to Zhang Chongyun:
"Commander Zhang, quickly have the soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion exchange clothes with our brothers from the Fourteenth Division, so that the enemy archers won't be able to tell them apart!"

As soon as Zhang Chongyun heard this, he immediately ordered both sides to change clothes. As the clothes were exchanged, the Cuman archers could no longer effectively distinguish the difference between the soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion and the soldiers of the 14th Division!
Seeing that the strategy he had come up with was cracked by the Fengwu Army, Esidogan seemed a little annoyed, but he didn't have any particularly good solution at this time. He could only order the soldiers of the Tiger Division to increase the intensity of the attack and tear apart the Fengwu Army's formation as much as possible!
The situation was temporarily caught in a fierce battle. Although the situation of the Fengwu Army was very dangerous under the enemy's reckless attack, under the pressure of the Royal Guard Battalion, the formation of the Fengwu Army was never broken by the enemy.

The fierce battle lasted for a full hour. The momentum of their attack was gradually declining, but the Fengwu Army's formation showed no signs of being breached.

Asdogan's face couldn't help but sank, but he also knew that under the current circumstances, continuing to fight would only result in more casualties and it would be impossible to take Wugang Mountain. So in order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Asdogan could only sigh and order a withdrawal...
As Asdogan's order was issued, the Cuman soldiers, whose morale had dropped to the lowest point, retreated like a tide. The Fengwu Army on Wugang Mountain also cheered for victory. Ye Fu couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then smiled at Zhang Chongyun beside him.

Although we held on and repelled the enemy's attack, it was just too dangerous!
If the enemy could maintain that momentum and hold out for another half an incense stick of time, the Fengwu Army's formation might really be broken by them!
After a moment of silence, Ye Fu asked Zhang Chongyun:
"Commander Zhang, your guard battalion will surely suffer heavy casualties today, but I want to ask you, do you still want to attack the enemy camp at night?"

Faced with Ye Fu's sudden question, Zhang Chongyun seemed very surprised, but he still nodded firmly and said:
"I believe my brothers are fine!"

Feeling Zhang Chongyun's decisive tone, Ye Fu said in a deep voice without hesitation:
"It's better to do it now than to wait for a better day. Let's do it tonight!"

Zhang Chongyun was even more surprised when he heard this. He wondered why Ye Fu, who had been making long-term plans last night, would just give it a try now?

It's only been six or seven hours, how come Ye Fu changed so quickly...

(End of this chapter)