Once they were freed from the fetters of the wounded soldiers and civilians, Sun Tu and his party would naturally move forward. In the next few days, they traveled all the way northeast, covering fifty or sixty miles almost every day, which was not much slower than riding a horse. You must know that there are no decent official roads at the junction of Liao and Song Dynasties. They are all rugged and difficult mountain roads, which will naturally slow down pedestrians greatly.
But in the eyes of the well-trained elites of the Qingzhou Army, this difficulty is nothing. The only reason why they dare not move forward at full speed is that they need to be wary of possible enemies. After all, this is the territory of the Liao Kingdom. The two sides are still at war, and more importantly, Xiao Yanping's defeated army may still exist. At least until they arrive at Zhuozhou City, they dare not relax at all.
Just like this, they walked all the way day and night, resting for only three hours a day. Finally, after entering April, they arrived at the border of Zhuozhou. Just the half-broken stone tablet in front of them convinced everyone that the destination was in front of them. At this time, the red sun was setting in the west, and another dusk had arrived.
"Go through the Baima Mountain in front, and walk thirty or fifty miles further, you will reach Zhuozhou City..." A scout spread out the map in his hand, pointing to the city that had been marked long ago, and said with excitement.
Sun Tu nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, it's been a hard journey for everyone. But we are very lucky and haven't encountered any trouble. As long as we enter the city, I believe we will be completely safe."
"But General, despite your humble position, there is still something unclear. Why did you come all this way? Although there are villages and towns, you can hardly see the local people?" A subordinate asked curiously, and his words immediately attracted the attention of others. On Sun Tu’s face.
Although they mostly walked on less traveled paths along the way, they also passed several villages. But as a result, those villages were already in ruins, with no human beings in sight. Many farmhouses had collapsed, and the grass was tall and tall. It was obvious that no one had lived in them for several years.
You know, there are still large areas of land just beside these villages that look like farmland that were once cultivated, but now they have become a paradise for weeds. At a glance, they are all grass and trees of different lengths. Obviously, the people here did not flee because of the current war between Song and Liao or the famine.
Sun Tu pondered for a moment and then guessed: "This is probably related to the ever-victorious army of Medicine Master Guo. They can only be called a rebel army now, so their actions must be unreasonable, and for them, population It’s the best supplement.”
This caused everyone's expressions to change. In the Song Dynasty, although their lives had been more difficult in the past, they had never had such an experience. As a result, the soldiers' impression of Medicine Master Guo quickly dropped: "I originally thought that as a Han Chinese, he could be considered a hero for being able to raise a team in the Liao Kingdom, but now it seems that this is not the case. "
"In such a world, a hero may never have a chance to succeed." Sun Tu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"That's not true. In our eyes, General, you are a great hero who is upright and upright. If you hadn't appeared, our Qingzhou people's lives would have been miserable."
These words quickly won everyone's approval, and everyone looked at Sun Tu with admiration. Although they were stupid, they still boasted sincerely.
The arrival of Sun Tulai made our Yuehou's rare old face feel hot: "I don't dare to be called a hero, I just don't want people like me to suffer anymore."
As he said that, he waved his hand again: "Okay, let's leave these words until we succeed in the future. Let's rest on the spot first. Yuan Gang, Xu Liang, you two go ahead and explore the road to see if there are any What's the danger?" Being in enemy territory, Sun Tu didn't dare to relax at all, especially at this critical moment when he was about to arrive in Zhuozhou, and he didn't want to make any mistakes because of his relaxation.
The two subordinates whose names were called quickly agreed in a solemn voice, took their weapons and crossbows, and quickly moved forward. They are all the elites of the Qingzhou Army's scout camp, so they are naturally able to find routes and other tasks. Sun Tu and the others were stationed on the spot, and he even took out two large boxes of self-heating hot pot directly from the warehouse system to reward these brothers.
After the mutiny and seizing power, Sun Tu discovered that the warehouse system that had been making little progress suddenly opened several large warehouses. One of them was actually filled with this kind of food that was quite popular in later generations. In addition to self-heating hot pot, there were also a large number of Mineral water, and compressed biscuits. These things really came in handy this time, allowing them to have a worry-free journey without bringing any dry food or water.
What was stored in several other warehouses was something that made him more confident, but now was not the time to take it out.
Along the way, everyone has become accustomed to the fact that their generals can conjure up these food that they have never seen or heard of before, but they taste great. Now I was very hungry again. When I saw something, I didn’t ask any more questions. I stretched out my hand to grab it. In a moment, several large boxes of food were divided up. Then, bursts of alluring aroma spread out in this wilderness...
When the sky was completely dark, and except for a dozen people who were keeping watch, everyone else had fallen asleep leaning on the bonfire. Only then did Sun Tu see Yuan and Xu hurried back. The firelight shone on their faces, but Sun Tu noticed that their expressions were quite nervous. He quickly stepped forward and asked, "What, is there any problem ahead?"
"Going back to the general, five or six miles ahead, which is at the entrance of Baima Mountain, we found fresh horse manure and traces left by people and horses walking around. Just looking at the footprints, I'm afraid there are not three or four hundred." Yuan Tsuna said with a solemn expression.
Sun Tu naturally believed in the judgment of the two of them, and his face became serious: "Have you found their whereabouts and found out their identities?"
The two of them shook their heads guiltily: "We walked another two or three miles into the mountains, but still couldn't find them."
Are those people friends or foes? Or are they the patrolling troops from Zhuozhou? Sun Tu quickly made inferences in his mind, but he couldn't come to an accurate conclusion for a while. But one thing he knew was that they had to be more careful when marching next. There were many times more people on the other side than on his side. Once they were really surrounded by the other side, the consequences would be dangerous.
"Tonight's vigil will be divided into three shifts, and there must be no slack." Sun Tu quickly gave his own response strategy. It was a matter of life and death, and he had to be very alert.
These Qingzhou Army subordinates have experienced many times of swords, winds and arrows, so they naturally understand Sun Tu's intentions, so they did not care about the hard journey, and immediately issued the order, strictly
Rest and keep vigil according to this method.
Soon, the camp became quiet again. Except for a few campfires that were still beeping, no other sounds could be heard.
At this moment, no more than three miles away from the Song army's camp, there was a team in Liao army uniforms observing their movements from a distance. But what is unexpected is that this Liao army did not appear on the side of Baima Mountain, but came from the rear...
And if Sun Tu could see them, he would be even more surprised! Because the leader of this team of several hundred people was surprisingly Xiao who had fought with him before and trapped them on the unknown hill for several days. In the end, they were defeated by the reinforcements of the Song Army and were severely wounded by Sun Tuyuan's arrow. Yanping!
At this time, Xiao Yanping looked much uglier than that day. Not only was his face still pale after the injury, his eyes were bloodshot, but his whole body was extremely excited, staring at the fire over there: "We are really enemies on a narrow road, Mr. Sun, let me see who can save you this time!"
Even though it had been more than a month, he still clearly remembered the defeat that day and how miserable and embarrassed he felt. If it weren't for the desperate efforts of his subordinates and brothers to save him, Xiao Yanping would have died among the rebels long ago.
Xiao Yanping really couldn't accept the defeat. You must know that at that time, he had an overwhelming advantage in terms of combat power. However, due to the arrival of a reinforcement force that was beyond his expectation, everything became irreversible. Almost all of the five thousand warriors died in that tragic defeat. In the end, less than a thousand people escaped, and more than half of them were seriously injured and could no longer fight.
It can be said that the four to five hundred people behind him are the last bit of strength that Xiao Yanping can use. This is a disastrous defeat that he has never had before, and it is also the revenge that he must avenge.
As the war on the frontline progressed, he thought he would have no way to take revenge. As a result, Lin Ya's letter from a flying pigeon gave him the opportunity to atone for his sins. What surprised him even more was that after finding the whereabouts of this Song team a few days ago, he also saw the familiar figure of the enemy from a distance, Sun Tu, who he would not forget even if he turned into ashes. .
Thinking of Sun Tu, Xiao Yanping felt another burning pain in his back. The arrow almost penetrated his body that day, missing his heart by half an inch. Fortunately, his life was not destined to end, and he finally survived. But in fact, his injuries still couldn't be healed in this time, but he still gritted his teeth, because the shame of that day could only be washed away with the blood and lives of the enemy!
"Sun Tu... Tonight is the day you die!" After reading this sentence softly from the gap between his teeth, following Xiao Yanping's gesture, the remnants of the Liao army behind him began to cover forward slowly and silently, and kept approaching. The camp ahead.
In the previous battle, they were defeated so miserably that they even lost all their bows and arrows, so now they could only sneak into the camp and launch close attacks. But they believe that they can still win. Because the enemy does not know his whereabouts, and they also have an absolute advantage in military strength!
When they touched the area in front of the Song Army camp where the firelight could shine, with a roar, the dozens of Liao soldiers in front of them pounced on them like tigers and cheetahs, with the sharp blades in their hands flashing, and they struck directly at the people who had just turned around. The Throat of the Night Watcher…
The battle breaks out instantly!