Qiu Yizi felt relieved and turned back to check the enemy's situation. He saw that the enemy's vanguard had emerged from the fog and seemed to have discovered Zhao Chengxiao and others. They were tentatively trying to attack to break through the defense line.
Qiu Yizhi saw this and pulled Meng Hong over and said, "You lead a few of your brothers to shoot at the enemy's attack first and help your brother Zhao. It's foggy and windy now, you have to be careful not to hurt your brothers by mistake."
Meng Hong nodded, then led his men, raised their crossbows and fired two rounds downwards.
The enemy was advancing cautiously in the fog, and was suddenly hit by such a sudden attack from the sky, which was completely unexpected. The few people who had just advanced forward immediately shrank back, and through the layers of fog, it seemed that their formation became very chaotic for a moment.
Zhao Chengxiao, who was on the front line, knew that it was Qiu Yizi on the mountain who was covering for him. Fearing that he would lose the opportunity to fight, he waved a flag and ordered his men to shoot their crossbows forward.
After these two attacks, the enemy troops attacking Shanyin County were thrown into chaos. Hysterical cries for help were heard from the valley, but due to the thick fog, they could not see the situation below clearly.
Qiu Yizi felt strange in his heart - he had fought with the Lingnan Road army before, and their morale, discipline, experience, and martial arts were all quite impressive. Even in the current situation where they were unfamiliar with the terrain and climate, and were suddenly attacked, although there would inevitably be some confusion, they would not be so helpless as to have no solution at all.
So Qiu Yizi ordered the "Black-necked Toad" on the mountain to give a secret signal, asking Zhao Chengxiao to stabilize the formation a little and not to pursue the victory in order to avoid falling into the enemy's trap.
It took a long time for the enemy troops at the foot of the mountain to calm down, and then it took a long time again before they organized another attack.
Qiu Yizi and Zhao Chengxiao saw a hundred or so enemies charging forward from the top and bottom of the mountain, and they simultaneously ordered their crossbowmen to fire at the same time.
The opponent was once again stunned by this attack and retreated again.
Qiu Yizhi was observing from a high position on the mountain, and he really couldn't understand the enemy's actions. After thinking about it, he just felt that the enemy had such patience. If they failed to lure the enemy once, they would try it a second time. He also felt a little funny. Could it be that the enemy were all stupid? If the opponent didn't fall for it the first time, would they fall for it the second time
So Qiu Yizi called the "Black-necked Toad" to pass the order to Zhao Chengxiao at the foot of the mountain, ordering him to calm down, not to move rashly, and to observe the changes of the enemy.
The enemy troops on the mountain path seemed to have no better solution. After trying several times, they seemed exhausted and no longer attacked.
It was already noon, and the red sun was rising higher and higher, dispersing all the fog in the valley. Qiu Yizi looked far away and saw that there were about five or six thousand enemy soldiers at the foot of the mountain, lying or sprawled on the roadside to rest. Their uniforms were of different colors, their flags were in disarray, and there was no formation at all. It didn't seem like they had any intention of luring the enemy.
Qiu Yizi felt even more puzzled, and hurriedly ordered "Iron Head Dragon" to take a few helpers to climb over the high mountain in front and go to see if there were any enemy ambushes in the back.
"Iron Head Jiao" agreed, called his two brothers, and went to observe.
The mountain road was difficult to travel on horseback, and the "Iron Head Dragon" did not have the good speed of Wang Laowu. It took him more than an hour to go back and forth and report: "To reply to the adults, there are no ambushes ahead."
Qiu Yizhi glanced at the sweaty bald head of the "Iron Head Dragon" and asked, "Did you look carefully? Is there really no ambush?"
The Iron-Headed Dragon pondered for a moment, then patted his chest and said, "I have walked this path so many times, I remember the trees, grass, and stones clearly, there are definitely no ambushes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a man running up the mountain and ran to Qiu Yizhi to report: "Boss Zhao asked me to come up and inform you that the troops in front are not from Lingnan Army, but from the defeated Jiangnan Road Jiedu Army. Please tell me how to deal with them!"
Qiu Yizi suddenly realized that it was no wonder that these people, although numerous in number, had no ambition to make progress. It turned out that they were a group of defeated Jiedushi troops!
"If they are not the Lingnan Army, why would they attack us?" Qiu Yizhi thought about it secretly, but still couldn't figure it out. Finally, he made up his mind and said to the soldier who came up the mountain to pass the order: "Go down and tell Zhao Chengxiao to shout in front of the battle, asking the enemy to lay down their weapons and surrender on the spot. If the enemy refuses, then look at the flag on the mountain and charge in one fell swoop."
The soldier nodded and went down the mountain to pass on the message.
Not long after, there was indeed a voice of shouting and instructing from Zhao Chengxiao's side, but the distance was a little far, and the sound only echoed a few times in the valley, so it was no longer possible to hear what was said.
However, Qiu Yizi was in a high position and could clearly see the troops crowded in the valley. When they heard Zhao Chengxiao's shout, they became obviously agitated, but they did not immediately lay down their arms and surrender, and seemed to be still hesitating.
Then Zhao Chengxiao was heard shouting again.
The opponent also made a commotion again, but still did not surrender.
Qiu Yizi couldn't wait any longer, so he called Iron Head Dragon and Black Neck Toad and said, "It's no use delaying here. Iron Head Dragon, come with me and lead the brothers over the two mountains in front to block the enemy's retreat. Toad, you stay here alone. When you see us rushing down the mountain, immediately wave the flag and tell Zhao Chengxiao to attack at the same time. With two-sided attacks, the enemy will fail despite their large numbers. Do you understand?"
The "Black-necked Toad" and the "Iron-headed Dragon" nodded at the same time. Qiu Yizi felt relieved and called his soldiers to march forward along the invisible path in the mountains under the protection of Yuchi Jiming.
"Iron-headed Dragon" had crossed the mountain once before and was quite familiar with this mountain road. Therefore, it only took a short while for him to lead Qiu Yizi and others over the mountain and arrived behind the enemy army.
Qiu Yi looked around and found that it was just as "Iron Head Dragon" had just said. Although the enemy troops in the valley were not small in number, they were an isolated force with no reinforcements behind them.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi felt relieved and ordered his men to take out the command flag and wave it continuously. Seeing that the "Black-necked Toad" in the sentry post on the mountain ahead also waved the flag, he felt at ease and boldly led everyone down the mountain to attack the enemy from behind.
The enemy's defenses were very lax. They neither sent out special soldiers to patrol nor arranged themselves in a strict formation. They were scattered along the road like a sickly snake. To someone like Qiu Yizi, who knew military knowledge, their entire body was full of weak points.
Therefore, Qiu Yizhi did not take the risk himself, but pulled Meng Hong and "Iron Head Dragon" over and said, "Meng Hong, you lead the brothers to shoot at the opposite side near the big tree. When the enemy has an opening, "Iron Head Dragon" will lead the men to attack the enemy's weak spot. Although the enemy's morale is low, they are outnumbered after all. After you succeed, you must retreat immediately and wait for my second order."
"Iron Head Dragon" had never lost a battle since following Qiu Yizi, but he suffered a heavy loss in front of the Lingnan Army. He originally wanted to take advantage of the opponent's weakness and kill them to vent his anger, but Qiu Yizi's order was just to disrupt the opponent's formation, and he was quite unhappy.
However, as the military order was in front of him, "Iron-Headed Dragon" did not dare to disobey. He gritted his teeth and nodded, then whispered to a few of his men, and secretly went down the mountain in the woods to prepare.
Meng Hong was also prepared. When he heard Qiu Yi's order, "Shoot!" he pulled the trigger and shot crossbow arrows at the enemy. Nineteen crossbowmen under his command also shot in the same direction.
The enemy thought that the opponent was only blocking them in front, but they did not expect to be attacked from behind. They were obviously panicked. Instead of organizing an effective defense, they fled in all directions and trampled on each other, appearing to be in great chaos.
Seeing this, the "Iron Head Dragon" halfway up the mountain thought it was a good opportunity, so he let out a strange cry and led his brothers to rush down the valley to engage in close combat with the opponent.
The enemy became even more panicked when faced with the attack of this group of vicious fresh forces. They pushed and shoved each other in the narrow valley, and the situation became a mess.
The military order that "Iron Head Dragon" received was to retreat as soon as he came into contact with the enemy, but he did not expect that he would be so successful as soon as he came into contact with the opponent. He was not willing to retreat easily, and led a dozen brothers who had lived and died together when they were bandits, and hacked and killed indiscriminately in the crowd.
This group of people followed Qiu Yizhi when he went south to quell the Tianzun Rebellion. Not only were they skilled in martial arts, but they were also equipped with extremely fine Bohai swords. These swords were tougher and sharper than Japanese swords, but not as slender, which was just right for playing a role in the melee, chopping and killing the enemy as if chopping melons and vegetables.
The "Iron Head Jiao" and his men were in high spirits, charging left and right in the crowd as if they were in an empty space, killing people in a river of blood and corpses everywhere. The enemy army was like a group of lambs to be slaughtered, without the slightest ability to fight back.
Qiu Yizhi watched from a high position halfway up the mountain. At first, he thought the enemy might be trying to lure them in or have other tricks up their sleeves. He was also worried that the "Iron Headed Dragon" would go too deep and easily fall into the enemy's encirclement. But the enemy's resistance was not organized at all. At first, they fought in groups of three or two. Later, when they saw that the "Iron Headed Dragon" was killing too fiercely, they simply stopped fighting back and just ran away.
Zhao Chengxiao, who was at the front of the team, did not hesitate at all when he saw the flag of attack raised by the outpost on the mountain. He pointed the flag forward and the soldiers of the "Dangshi Camp" charged forward. Like a huge millstone, they slowly and unstoppably crushed the enemy troops in the valley. As they walked, they struck their shields with their Japanese swords, making an overwhelming metallic knocking sound.
The enemy's morale was already low, and they were frightened when they saw their opponent's courage. A few brave ones raised their swords and wanted to fight back, but seeing that there was no gap or flaw on the opposite side, they had to retreat slowly.
In this way, the enemy troops in the valley were attacked from both sides, and gradually gathered in the middle of the team. In less than a cup of tea, thousands of soldiers and horses were shoulder to shoulder, gathering on a road that was no more than a hundred steps long and no more than ten feet wide. It was really shoulder to shoulder, not to mention fighting against the enemy, even catching a breath was a little difficult.
Qiu Yizi saw it clearly from the top of the cliff, and was afraid that Zhao Chengxiao and the "Iron-headed Dragon" would press too hard, forcing the defeated enemy troops to have no way out and resort to desperate measures.
So Qiu Yizhi quickly ordered the soldiers at the foot of the mountain to stop attacking by ringing the gong. Then, under the protection of the crowd, he calmly went down the mountain from the middle of the mountain, came behind the "Iron Head Dragon", and shouted to the enemy: "Who are you? You have been surrounded by my army, why don't you surrender quickly!"