Except for the forty miles that the army marched on the first day after leaving the city, the forward speed of the official army slowed down significantly after that. Especially after leaving the official road, they only moved forward less than twenty miles per day. Although this slowed down time, the army's combat effectiveness was extremely well preserved. The entire army was able to maintain a defensive formation along the way, always paying attention to the surrounding movements.
This is exactly the result of more than two months of daily military formation drills. These thousand sergeants have long been accustomed to obeying military orders. Almost no one complained about being tired, and no one relaxed at all. Elite soldiers are no more than that.
Of course, in addition to the main force needing to slow down its pace, Sun Tu still sent a scout team to check for news ahead. They often walked faster, more than ten miles faster than the main force behind.
It was Cao Zheng who led more than a dozen scouts to explore the road today. Because of his previous performance and his careful training in the army, he quickly stood out in the scout camp and became the captain of this fifteen-man team. With experience, he was now concentrating on the narrow and rugged road ahead in case something unexpected happened.
The more than ten subordinates did not dare to slack off at this time. The scouts were the elite of the Qingzhou soldiers. They received double pay and had a higher status. Accordingly, when fighting was needed, their responsibilities were naturally greater, like This kind of road-opening investigation is even more of a responsibility.
Suddenly, the ears of a scout following Cao Zheng suddenly moved, and he immediately leaned forward and listened. This move immediately caused everyone else to stop. They formed a defensive formation while drawing their swords. Cao Zheng had a solemn look on his face: "What do you say?"
"A large number of people are coming here quickly..." This scout has far superior hearing than ordinary people. At this time, he played his role and stood up while speaking: "There should be as many as fifty or sixty. It shouldn't be possible." People nearby." Although they passed through several villages and towns along the way, there were not many people inside. They had been harmed by bandits and bandits a long time ago. How many people were willing to stay here and wait to die.
what to do? The others all set their eyes on Cao Zheng, waiting for him to make up his mind. After Cao Zheng thought for a while, he said: "Ding San, you go back and report the news to the governor and the others. The others disperse on both sides and hold them back first!" If only fifty or sixty people were not a threat, he I'm just worried that there will be a large number of enemies coming from behind. It will not be easy to fight this battle when the enemy occupies a favorable location. You must first buy time for the main force behind you.
The scouts immediately took the order, quickly dispersed, and hid behind the trees on the side of the path, while Ding San had already turned around and ran back.
After just one meal, a slightly chaotic group of people came quickly. The two leaders were brothers Kong Ming and Kong Liang. Unlike the officers and soldiers who were always on alert, they seemed very casual and had no intention of looking around. Some people were even talking loudly: "To say that these officers and soldiers from Qingzhou are really useless, it's all It's been two days, but we haven't met yet. Two village leaders, we will definitely win a big victory this time!"
Kong Liang laughed loudly: "You're right, those officers and soldiers are just decorations. I think their dispatch of troops this time is just a bluff to give those officials a chance."
It's just a proxy. If he really wants to fight with us, dozens of our brothers can kill him by thousands! "While speaking, these people's footsteps did not slow down, and they had already entered the encirclement on both sides of the scout army.
Cao Zheng's eyes flashed with brilliance. After calculating the opponent's footsteps, he took out the short bow he carried and took aim. He shouted in a low voice: "Kill!" As soon as the word was uttered, his fingers loosened, and the arrow was already there. He whizzed straight towards Kong Liang in front of his head.
The other scouts had already put their arrows on the strings just like him. Seeing that the captain had taken action first, they did not hesitate at all and released their arrows one after another. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen feather arrows were shot at the group from both sides. Thieves.
Kong Liang suddenly heard this shout, and then there was the sound of arrows. This made him suddenly startled, and he hurriedly turned to raise his knife and struck the arrow. With a bang, he actually blocked the fatal arrow, but it also made him break into a cold sweat.
The other people around him didn't have the ability to react like this. Just when they raised their swords in surprise, the arrows had already penetrated their bodies. Although it didn't hit a vital point, the pain was so painful that they screamed and hurriedly stepped back. .
Kong Ming's reaction was also very fast. After cutting down the arrows with his sword several times, he shouted loudly: "It's a sneak attack by the army! Let's kill them and don't let them fire any more arrows!" As he spoke, he had already Raising the sword in his hand, he took the lead and rushed towards the woods on the left. Kong Liang's eyes were red at this time, and he immediately shouted loudly. With the flash of his sword, the man jumped up like a cheetah and rushed towards the woods on the right.
Cao Zheng and others saw how ferocious these guys were after being attacked, and knew that they had met their opponents. It was obviously not appropriate to run away at this time, so they quickly released the last arrow they had hit, then they all abandoned their bows, drew their swords, and formed a formation. Welcome. Although there were fewer of them, a circular military formation conducive to self-defense was formed in the blink of an eye.
"Kill!" Kong Ming rushed in front of Cao Zheng first, and struck him in the face with a knife. Cao Zheng did not evade, and followed up with a loud shout, swung his knife to attack, and the two swords intersected. He was slightly inferior, and his footsteps stopped. In the meantime, his body retreated. But just when Kong Ming was about to stab him again, two short spears nearby had already stabbed him quickly. As long as he didn't rescue him, he would be severely injured.
In desperation, Kong Ming could only give up the pursuit and block with his sword. But before he could recover his breath, another knife struck from the side, forcing him to retreat. Only then did his men arrive, shouting and rushing over to fight with the several scouts who were protecting Cao Zheng as he retreated to one side.
In this confrontation, the power of the military formation was immediately revealed. Although the number of scouts is far less than that of the White Tiger bandits, they advance and retreat in a well-organized manner, and their offense and defense complement each other. Not only did they not let the bandits who rushed to kill them take advantage, but they took advantage of their dispersion and injured several people, allowing the bandits to attack. The offensive slowed down.
The situation at Kong Liang on the other side was also normal. Four or five times the number of thieves surrounded the scouts and fought with all their strength, but they failed to break through their formation. Instead, the troops on both sides kept moving closer, and then they merged together. A larger circle formed.
During this period, only two scouts were surrounded and killed because they were slow to move because of the wounds on their legs, but the other thirteen people were already guarding one place. On the other hand, more than ten people from Baihu Mountain fell in a pool of blood. The casualty ratio of five for one was terrible.
"When did these Qingzhou officers and soldiers become so difficult to chew? And where did they learn this turtle formation..." Seeing this, Kong Ming was shocked. He knew that this time it would be difficult, and he really wanted to eat them. I still don’t know how much the army will pay.
"If I had known earlier, I should have brought the serial crossbow." Kong Liang said bitterly. He believed that as long as he had this big killer weapon in hand, he could shoot down all the dozen people in front of him in such an open place in the blink of an eye. But this is just a thought. It is really difficult to annihilate this army at this time.
"We slowly retreated, focusing on delaying." Cao Zheng also felt a little regretful at this time. The opponent's combat strength was actually quite large, and the number of people on his side was too small. He really couldn't hold on for too long if he fought hard, so he just You can slowly retreat and delay, so as to wait for the main force from behind to come to the rescue.
But their retreat reminded the Kong brothers. Kong Ming immediately strode forward and shouted: "Kill them all, and we will leave!" As the leader of the village, he took the lead and killed them, and the others were not willing to follow suit. Then, they all howled and rushed forward. The superiority mentality they have developed towards the officers and soldiers over the years has made them fearless even if they suffered a small loss before.
When he saw dozens of thieves attacking fiercely again, Cao Zheng felt even more nervous. However, turning around and running away would only lead to faster death, so he had no choice but to fight to the end. He immediately shouted loudly, stepped up and brandished his sword, and faced Kong Ming who was slashing with the sword. The scouts around him quickly took up positions to help him defend against attacks from the side, and the two sides quickly engaged in a massacre.
Just like the situation just now, relying on the solid defense of the circle formation, the smaller scout team actually blocked the fierce attack of the thieves, but they also paid a certain price, especially in the face of an enemy that no one could do to contain. When Kong Liang came to light, two people were stabbed. They had lost the ability to fight again and could only shrink to the center of the circular formation.
"It would be nice if there were more people, then we could use the hollow array to shoot arrows to kill the enemy!" Cao Zheng thought bitterly. But even so, they still injured seven or eight more enemies and repelled another round of offensive. However, despite all their efforts, these elite soldiers were already slightly injured and their strength was low.
Kong Ming, who was retreating again to gain momentum, saw the officers and soldiers in front of him gasping for breath, and his heart cheered up: "They are almost out of strength. Follow me and kill them in one breath!"
The Kong brothers took the lead again and attacked Cao Zheng with two knives at the same time. Now Cao Zheng could no longer resist. As soon as he blocked Kong Liang's knife, he was hit by Kong Ming's knife on the shoulder, causing him to stagger back. As soon as he retreated, a gap quickly appeared in front of the circular formation.
Kong Ming's reaction was extremely fast, and he immediately rushed forward. The knife in his hand drew a large arc with a bang, forcing the scouts who still wanted to take over their positions to dodge in a hurry. As a result, the gap became even larger, and the bandits behind them also understood and immediately charged with all their strength. With a few puffs, three more scouts were killed and fell to the ground. And with their fall, the circular formation was finally broken!
"Run!" Seeing this, Cao Zheng shouted loudly, regardless of whether he was seriously injured, and turned around and ran back. The other scouts were not slow to respond. They didn't care that there were enemies attacking behind them, so they turned around and started running. No matter how hard you try, running away is the wisest choice...