In the wilderness north of Yanmen Pass, there is the Song Army camp.
After two days of marching, we have covered nearly fifty miles. This speed is certainly not considered fast in the army, and it is faster than when we came north before. But for this tiger army, which is mainly composed of civilians, , this speed is already the limit. This is not only because they need to conceal their own strength, but also because they have to pay attention to the signs of trouble on the road and be prepared for possible attacks at any time.
In this way, it is not only a physical consumption, but also a mental consumption. The army will naturally not be able to advance faster. When they arrived at the camp at night, everyone was even more exhausted. Except for a small number of people keeping watch, everyone got into their tents early to sleep.
Of course, there are rewards for hard work. Even though it only lasted two days, the entire Huben Army has changed a lot compared to before, and they no longer dare to relax because of past successes. Today, they finally know how difficult it is to face a truly powerful enemy. It is completely different from when they easily quelled the banditry in Gyeonggi Province.
The other soldiers could rest in time, but Sun Tu, as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, refused to relax at this time. At the second watch, he walked out of the military tent as he did the night before and patrolled the camp, while his eyes were still scanning the darkness around him. Moving, I wonder if there is a real threat hiding in the darkness. But one thing he knew very well was that his family should have been targeted by the Liao people, and they might be attacked at some point.
You must know that this Tiger and Ben army contains not only those newcomers to the battlefield who have never faced a real battle, but also two hundred veterans of the Qingzhou Army who followed Sun Tu all the way from Shandong to Jiangnan, and half of them are scout battalions. Elite origin. At this point, charging into battle may not be able to turn the tide of the battle, but when it comes to checking the surrounding situation and analyzing the enemy's traces, he is a good hand.
In fact, since last night, Sun Tu had known that his family had been targeted by the Liao people, but he didn't know when and where they would choose to launch an offensive against him. For this reason, he chose to station here today, precisely because he felt that the enemy might choose to attack tonight.
"General, can we really wait for the Liao army with this arrangement?" Wei Cheng, who was patrolling the camp with him, looked around a little uneasily. There was only the whistling of the wind in the wilderness, which made people feel unavoidable. Nervous, as if a terrible beast might pounce out of the darkness at any time.
Sun Tu paused, looked back and patted him on the shoulder: "What, are you scared?"
"A humble position..." Wei Cheng's face turned red, but he did not dare to admit that he was timid in front of Sun Tu. Indeed, he is quite scared now. After all, he was a good-for-nothing dude two years ago, but now he has become a lieutenant general in the army, and he has to fight against the powerful Liao people, not to mention now...
"Don't panic, we are not weaker than the Liao people. Today they are no longer the great army that dominated the world a hundred years ago, otherwise they would not resort to such methods. And we have already been prepared. As long as they dare to come, here This is where they are buried." Sun Tu said, and continued to walk through the military camp where bonfires were lit. It was quiet here, with only thirty or fifty people on duty.
Wei Cheng then responded in a low voice and quickly followed Sun Tu's footsteps to inspect the garrison.
Come to the military camp under the hill. Probably to avoid the wind, the Song army's camp was located close to this hill, which was more than 30 feet high. The entire camp was quite tightly packed, not giving the enemy any opportunity to take advantage of it.
In the darkness in the distance, several pairs of eyes were staring at the camp. Although there are no stars or moon tonight, because the bonfires in the Song Army camp have not been extinguished, it is easier for outsiders to grasp the situation in the camp.
"Go back. It depends on the situation. Although the Song Army was on guard, it was still too much." The leader said softly and retreated silently. The others pulled back with him and quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Half an hour later, they appeared in a dead wood forest more than ten miles away. The severe cold in spring this year has kept the forest looking like winter, with few leaves visible on the trees. However, for this forest covering an area of dozens of miles, it contains a branch of more than 5,000 people. The cavalry is enough.
As they approached the forest, someone shouted loudly: "Da Liao is in full swing!" This was exactly the command of the army. It wasn't until the next sentence came from inside: "Defeat the Song Dynasty and destroy the Jin Dynasty!" that they quickly moved forward, and the men and horses hidden in the forest did not attack them.
Soon, they came to Xiao Yanping and reported what they saw truthfully. Xiao Yanping listened carefully, and then showed a strange smile: "Loose outside and tight inside, is this to induce us to launch a night attack?"
"General, are you saying that this is all a fake?" the scout who was ordered to investigate said in disbelief.
"If my previous judgment was good, then that's it." Xiao Yanping curled his lips and smiled: "But just five thousand Song troops want to plot against me, but I have to make them pay the price. I said, I am the bait It’s time to eat!” At this point, a fierce light flashed in his eyes: “Give me the order, everyone should eat something, and at the fourth watch, launch the attack!”
Normally, night raids would be carried out in the middle of the night, but he felt that the fourth watch, which was close to dawn, was the most suitable time for a sneak attack. Because at this time, Song Jun, who had been on guard all night, must be tired, must have relaxed because of the approaching dawn, and had probably even fallen asleep. A sudden attack at this time will surely defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. He really didn't believe that there were any elites in the Song Dynasty's rear army who could compete with him head-on.
The fourth watch day is coming soon.
The bonfire in the military camp had gradually weakened after burning for most of the night. This made the night watch soldiers who could only rely on it to keep warm feel more and more uneasy. They quickly took out a lot of dry firewood from a small tent and added it. Some people even muttered and complained about something.
But just as they were talking vaguely, a rumbling sound suddenly sounded from several miles away, making them startled: "What is this? Is the earth dragon turning over?" They have been living in the prosperous area of Tokyo. Having never experienced fighting on the battlefield, they did not even think about the direction of the enemy's attack. It wasn't until the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently, accompanied by shouts and shouts of murder, that they suddenly woke up, their faces changed drastically, and they screamed: "Liao people! It's Liao people who are here to attack!"
The sharp scream instantly broke the tranquility of the Song Army camp. But it was obviously too late to shout a warning at this time, because the Liao cavalry was already rushing over at lightning speed.
for this
A night attack could defeat the enemy with one blow, but Xiao Yanping took a lot of effort. Not only did he choose this moment when the enemy was most relaxed and exhausted, but he also ordered the whole army to dismount and walk, with their men wearing titles and their horses picking their bells, and quietly approached the Song army's camp. It wasn't until about three miles away that the entire army was suddenly ordered to charge.
For the cavalry who sprinted with all their strength, three miles was really just a blink of an eye. The screams of the night watch soldiers were still echoing in the sky above the barracks. Hundreds of arrows had roared past the camp gate in front and rained down on them in dense numbers. Immediately, the screams were replaced by screams. The soldiers even threw away their weapons, turned around and ran back.
But this will only make them die faster, because the enemy has already taken this opportunity to break through the defense line of the camp in front. The antlers and horses that had been hastily arranged in front of the camp gate had long been picked aside by the Liao army on the front line with their spears. After clearing a smooth path, they charged at full speed, breaking through the thin Behind the camp gate, the Song Army camp in front of them has almost become a piece of meat on the chopping board in their eyes, just waiting for them to chop it off with their swords and feast on it.
Xiao Yanping, who came into the camp with his cavalry, also showed contempt. This Song army was far more useless than he thought. He thought there would be another battle, but now it seems that it is just a harvest.
But as soon as this thought came to him, he was shocked again, and he realized that the situation was not good: "That's not right. No one has come out of the surrounding camps until now... Also, there are no horses neighing here. They clearly have cavalry. Where did those horses go?"
Ahead, the Liao soldiers had already started to set fires everywhere according to the fixed night attack method, turning the originally dark camp into a bright red. Some people also chased the fleeing Song soldiers who were watching the night, and chopped them to the ground like slaughtering livestock. , and then the horse's hooves trampled on it mercilessly, causing screams.
"Be careful on both sides, the Song Army has an ambush here!" Xiao Yanping shouted, with the long knife in his hand across his chest, ready for everything, and his eyes kept glancing to the left and right sides, but it was quiet and dark there. , it is really difficult to tell whether there is an ambush or not.
At this time, he really regretted his decision of being too trustworthy. Since you know that the other party is prepared, you should be prepared accordingly, at least not to expose the left and right wings. Fortunately, he believed that the elite knights under his command were good at fighting, and as long as they were prepared, they would not be afraid of accidents.
As expected, these Liao soldiers lived up to his trust. After hearing this roar, although they still set fire everywhere, they paid more attention to outside the camp. In fact, he didn't need to remind him any more. At this time, no one ran out of the entire Song camp, which was enough to explain the problem.
Who would have thought that the Song camp that they had targeted and sent scouts to carefully observe in the middle of the night was actually an empty camp trap, just to lure them into a trap!
At that moment, a loud horn sound suddenly sounded!
What followed was an overwhelming, dense rain of thousands of arrows!
What made the Liao soldiers suddenly change their colors was that these arrows came not from the left and right sides they were guarding against, but from the hills behind the camp.
The Song army had been hiding above their heads, taking advantage of the situation, and suddenly launched a sneak attack!