At dawn, a team with various Song Dynasty military flags was marching quickly and orderly on the official road leading to Lin'an. The queue during their march seemed extremely loose. There were only about 30,000 people, but the team stretched out for more than ten miles. However, each team, and even each soldier, was very regular, pulling each other. The distance is quite equal, thus ensuring that this team can react and defend in the most timely manner when attacked from any side.
However, even in this still somewhat dark environment, it is difficult for anyone to launch a sudden attack on it, because at the front of the team, a scout team of several hundred people has been sent out. They are experienced and careful. Rufa, in a short period of time, could search almost every key position where the rear army was about to pass. Not to mention any ambush, even the slightly larger beasts hidden there had been cleared out by them. Leave no trouble behind. But under such circumstances, their forward speed was still far higher than that of the army at the rear, which clearly shows how powerful this scout army on the outpost was.
In today's Jiangnan territory, there is naturally only one team with such military quality, the Shandong Army under Sun Tu! At this time, he was walking in the middle of the army in neat armor, surrounded by ordinary soldiers. As for his fighting horses, they were led by his personal guards and followed behind him. The only difference between him and ordinary soldiers was that he did not carry any weapons except for the sword on his waist, but it was enough to be considered as sharing the joys and sorrows with his subordinates.
It was precisely because Sun Tu, the commander-in-chief of the army, led by example that all the other generals, except for the scouts and vanguards who opened the way, also marched on foot, making the entire Shandong Army's rapid march appear tense and orderly, and no one complained. of. After all, in today's world, it is normal for generals to ride on horses when traveling, and there are even those who ride on horses. Compared with the two carriages, Sun Tu is much stronger.
With this encouragement, the Shandong Army was able to cover a distance of hundreds of miles in just seven or eight days, and it still maintained strong fighting spirit and confidence, without even the slightest sign of slackness in the queue.
Yes, Sun Tu actually led his army to the south half a month ago, shortly after the letter admonishing Zhang Gun and the others not to enter rashly was sent. Of course, he was not here to grab the credit, but he came to the rescue knowing that those generals were eager to grab the credit and worried that they would suffer a big loss under the walls of Hangzhou. After all, it is an army of 100,000. If there is a mistake, the loss will be too great, and it will not be conducive to future counter-insurgency operations.
After looking at the sky that was gradually getting brighter, Sun Tu turned around and said to the ordering soldiers beside him: "My military order, let everyone rest on the spot for half an hour, fill your stomach before going on the road. If what I expected is not bad, We will arrive in Lin'an this afternoon, and then we can have a good rest."
Just when the few messengers agreed and turned around to pass the orders forward and backward, there was a sound of fast horse hooves in front. A moment later, a knight dressed as a scout appeared in front of Sun Tu and made a neat move. He turned over and dismounted, saluted and reported: "General, another twenty miles away is Lin'an County! Also, we just looked into the distance from a high place and found that there seemed to be a fierce battle further away... "
When Sun Tu heard this, he frowned quickly. After only nodding to the hesitant messengers, he turned around and came to the side of the horse, climbed up with one leg, and lifted the reins.
The horse has been galloping forward quickly. Did what he worried about most really happen? If the war has really extended to the vicinity of Lin'an, then the situation of the Song army ahead is not very optimistic!
Herod's horse neighed several times under his crotch, its four hooves were flying like wheels, and it moved forward at full speed. In just one meal, it had already passed the team at the front. When it turned around again, it could see a place. There is a group of people on the high slope looking into the distance. Many of them are holding telescopes called clairvoyants. They are the elite scouts of the Shandong Army.
Even with the shrewdness and ability of these people, it is impossible to really see dozens of miles under such dark and unclear sky conditions, and the reason for this report is naturally relying on these telescopes from a thousand years later. It is said that since Sun Tu took out the telescopes from the warehouse system, almost all of them were taken away by the people in the scout camp. They regarded them as treasures, and they indeed played a decisive role in the previous series of wars. After all, for wars in this era, being able to discover the enemy's whereabouts early and make corresponding arrangements in advance will definitely increase the chance of victory.
After realizing that Sun Tu was coming, Shi Qian immediately came up to him: "General, although we can't see the things ahead too clearly, we should be close to them." Sun Tu nodded and reached out to take one from him. Use the telescope and look ahead.
In front of the dim morning light, a large desolate scenery first came into view. Then, looking carefully in the distance, Sun Tu also saw some firelights dancing messily in the far distance. Although no sound could be heard, just by looking at the movement over there, one could infer that a large-scale war was taking place there.
After taking a breath of cold air, Sun Tu's face became more serious. He suddenly turned back and said to Dong Pingping's subordinates who had followed him: "It seems that the situation is more dire than we thought. The army in front should have been defeated and retreated. Moreover, the rebels are still pursuing, their losses must be huge, and even Lin'an may not be able to survive!"
As soon as these judgments were made, everyone present looked nervous, and some people even whispered: "How is this possible?"
This result was really beyond everyone's expectations and they couldn't accept it. Although they did not agree with the three-way Song army's rash advance to attack Hangzhou, they felt that these 100,000 troops could last for ten days and a half, at least until they could rush over.
But now it's good. How come they arrived in Hangzhou to start the war in only two or three days, but they were killed and defeated, and they were hunted down and fled back to Lin'an? So how badly did they lose in Hangzhou, and how much did they suffer, to end up in such an embarrassing situation
Even Sun Tu couldn't figure out what the problem was for a while, but he no longer wanted to dwell on it. He just focused his gaze and glanced at these generals: "Let's fill our stomachs on the spot first, take a short rest, and then rush to Lin'an as soon as possible! We must! We must arrive before Lin'an falls, repel the pursuers, and save our robe!"
"Here!" After the generals agreed in a low voice, they quickly turned back to make arrangements. Sun Tu turned his attention to Shi Qian again: "You can lead the brothers in the scout battalion to rush over first. You don't have to have direct contact with the enemy. You just need to find out their specific situation."
"Yes, humble duty, hurry up right now!" Shi Qian didn't say anything. After cupping his fists, he quickly ran towards his mount, and with a cry
As soon as the whistle was sent, more than a hundred cavalry scouts rushed out at full speed and headed towards Lin'an along the official road.
Watching them disappear from sight, Sun Tu's five fingers on the handle of the knife suddenly tightened. The development of this war had already escaped his judgment, and a sudden and difficult battle was about to begin!
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There were still ten miles away from Lin'an City, and on the plain, a desperate fight was in full swing. At this time, the strength of the two warring parties had been reduced sharply. The Song army had less than 30,000 soldiers left here, and the Wu army that was chasing them only had more than 10,000 people. However, the morale of the latter was obviously much higher than that of the former. The Wu army was suppressing the Song army and was retreating steadily, killing countless enemies. They were even able to dispatch troops and horses to attack the Song army from both sides, which made the Song army even more panicked.
In the Song army formation, only two of the three generals were left. Ren Shifan was nowhere to be found. Zhang Gun and Xu Shen were both covered in blood. The former even had a broken arm. The whole person had fallen into despair and madness. He only relied on some loyal people. The subordinates continued to protect them with all their lives, so that they were not killed by the enemy soldiers who were specifically watching them, but the situation was not optimistic.
Although Xu Shen was in better condition, his face was pale due to excessive blood loss. He didn't even have time to replace the big knife full of gaps in his hand. He just tried his best to resist the weapons coming from the front and side. His steps were staggering, and he already felt regretful in his heart. Vomiting and bleeding came.
This battle was really miserable for them. In just one day and one night, they lost more than half of their troops on the way from Hangzhou. This was a result they never thought of when they set out...
In fact, if the Wu army had just been defeated by the Wu army under the city of Hangzhou and retreated in embarrassment, the damage to the Song army would not have been so great. But who would have thought that the enemy had actually made a more vicious arrangement early in the morning. When they were running for their lives regardless of casualties, 20,000 troops and horses were actually killed in the dangerous valley ahead. It became the straw that broke the camel's back, causing the Song army to completely collapse, and it was difficult to organize a decent defense and offensive.
It wasn't until they paid an extremely heavy price that even Ren Shifan had no choice but to live or die and completely disappeared, that they finally broke free and escaped. However, the enemy still pursued them closely. Along the way, countless soldiers fell to the enemy's sword.
Although Lin'an is now in sight, Xu Shen knows very well that with less than 3,000 troops in the city, there is simply no way to turn the tide of the war.
"This time, I am really going to die here... If I had known this, I should have listened to Sun Tu's advice and not taken such a risky move... The only one who can save us at this time is the Shandong Army. They are still in Huzhou, and How could it appear in Lin'an hundreds of miles away..." Numerous thoughts emerged in Xu Shen's mind, but in the end there was only one conclusion - the only way to survive was to save yourself!
"Brothers, we have no way to retreat! If we want to survive, we must first repel the rebels before we can safely retreat to Lin'an and defend! Everyone, charge me again and kill!" Xu Shen was already on the rampage at this time. He made up his mind, shouted loudly, and rushed out regardless of the danger.
The Song Army officers and soldiers behind them, whether they were originally from Jingnan, Jingki, or Huaibei, finally put aside their respective identities at this time, gritted their teeth, burst out their last will to survive, and rushed towards the enemy again. Kill it...