As the night deepened, thick clouds completely obscured the stars and moon, causing the earth below to completely fall into darkness. Although there were bonfires lit in the Liao army garrison that stretched for several miles, it still only dimmed the temporary military camp, so that the soldiers on duty at night could only see a small area in front of them.
Two days have passed since Xiao Sixun and the others came to rendezvous and report the incident in Zhuozhou. In two days, the Liao army moved forward at a faster pace and had covered more than a hundred miles. In another two days, they would almost reach Zhuozhou. In order to launch an attack upon reaching Zhuozhou City, conserving the army's physical strength has become an extremely critical link, so resting at night has become particularly important.
It was not yet dark, and the Liao army was stationed in this relatively flat wilderness. After hastily using the dry food they carried with them, except for a few hundred soldiers who were keeping watch, the others got into the tents early and screamed. Big sleep. Of course, in addition to these night watchmen, there are hundreds of prisoners tied to the flagpole who cannot be accounted for, it is Xiao Sixun and other losers.
As early as the day before yesterday when they were stationed in the camp, the dozens of military sticks they sent were all implemented. Everyone was beaten to pieces and bloody, but after casually using some wound medicine, their lives were finally saved. But even so, the punishment for them still did not stop. Next, they were tied to the flagpole and paraded in public, and they were not allowed to relax at night. It was really pitiful. But since this was a military order from King Xi, no one in the army dared to speak and plead for them. At most, someone would give them some food and drink to prevent them from losing their lives.
The dying Xiao Sixun leaned against the flagpole in a semi-conscious state. He was so weak that he couldn't care about the bursts of pain in his back. He looked up at the sky aimlessly, his heart filled with regret. If he had known that this would be the result, he might as well have stayed in Zhuozhou and given it a try. In this way, even if he died, he would still be praised by the court, instead of suffering as he did today, losing half his life and becoming a waiter. The body of sin may never be able to raise its head again. And if you stay in Zhuozhou, you might still have a chance of success.
After thinking wildly for a long time, he suddenly remembered that the Song Dynasty envoy named Sun Tu was very clever. If he really faced off with him, he would have no chance of winning. But I don’t know who is better when King Xi competes with them
"What am I thinking? King Xi came with our elite troops from the Liao Dynasty. How could we not be able to deal with the tens of thousands of the ever-victorious army who have already suffered from internal and external troubles, their military supplies are no longer available, and their military morale is in chaos? I'm afraid that at this moment The victorious army has been so scared that they can't sleep at night, and some people may even have fled early..." His chaotic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a fierce sound of horns, which made Xiao Sixun startled at first, and then full of emotions. In disbelief, he looked hard towards the edge of the dark forest in front of him, but he couldn't see anything clearly.
Also reacting were the soldiers who were keeping vigil in the camp. Suddenly, hundreds of people raised their swords and guns at the same time, put on a defensive posture, and shouted loudly: "An enemy is coming, an enemy is coming!" "But for a moment, I didn't dare to really fight out of the camp.
Soon, the entire Liao army camp, which was originally peaceful, began to boil. Countless soldiers hurriedly came out of their tents. Not only were they noisy, but they also looked very embarrassed.
Most of these people were not fully armored, half of them were shirtless, and a small number of them didn't even bring weapons, so they ran out of the tent in such a hurry.
The officers were shouting at the whole team, but with so many people mixed together at once, how could they prepare the team's formation? So the entire Liao Army camp was like a huge vegetable market, with people and shouts everywhere, and no one knew what to do.
This messy scene lasted for about half an hour. After Xiao Qian, who was livid, kicked over several guards who were blocking him, and killed two soldiers who were running around in succession, the situation finally came to an end. Get better.
It was only then that the Liao army, which had calmed down, realized that something was wrong. After the trumpet sounded, no enemy came to kill them. And when I looked around, I couldn't see any enemy. You know, judging from the chaotic situation in the Liao army camp just now, if there is a sudden sneak attack by the enemy, it can really cause great damage to them. But in the end, the enemy did not seize such a good opportunity.
"It's just a feint attack, why are you all panicking?" After confirming the situation, Xiao Qian was so angry that his nose was almost crooked. He glanced at these subordinates with hatred, and at the same time, he felt alert in his heart. I was still too careless to underestimate the enemy and was not prepared for night defense. If this time it was not a feint attack and only a sneak attack, I am afraid it would have caused great harm to the army.
"Pass my order, leave three thousand people to guard the surroundings, and everyone else will return to their camps to rest." After being silent for a while, he made the most appropriate arrangement.
As a result, after making this arrangement, the outside became calm again, and there was no movement at all throughout the night. However, after this commotion, everyone in the Liao army was worried about how they could sleep peacefully that night. By dawn the next day, everyone seemed to be in low spirits.
Marching quickly is a laborious task, and since his whereabouts have been exposed, Xiao Qian did not dare to advance too rashly, so after dawn, he could only suppress his anxiety and slow down the advance of the army. On this day, they only marched less than forty miles, which was almost half of the rapid march of the previous two days. But even so, by the time they set up camp in the evening, the entire army was still exhausted. Many people quickly went into their tents to rest after setting up camp.
After learning the lesson from the previous night, the defense inside and outside the military camp was much tighter this night. Xiao Qian even sent people to search the mountains and forests on both sides, but they came back empty-handed.
However, when the time came around three o'clock and everyone was sleeping soundly, something unexpected happened again. This time, it was no longer the sound of drums and trumpets harassing the Liao army, but suddenly hundreds of cavalry galloping from the front. When they rushed to an arrow away from the Liao army camp, they suddenly stopped their horses and fired arrows. , after three rounds of arrows, thousands of rockets fell on the Liao army camp, killing the entire Liao army by surprise.
Naturally, the garrison on the march could not be as well-defended as when the two armies faced each other. Not to mention the stronghold walls that could withstand the enemy's attack, even the camp gate could not be erected in a short period of time. It was only surrounded by a few logs. That’s all. Now, the front camp is under rocket attack, and a nearby tent has been ignited by fire. Coupled with the wind blowing, the fire has become even more intense.
It spread quickly.
Fortunately, the Liao army was finally prepared this time. Amid the screams, they were no longer as chaotic as the night before. Firefighters also arrived quickly and put out the fire that had not yet started. At the same time, another group of soldiers and horses quickly chased them out of the camp, hoping to fight the enemies who sneaked into the camp.
But in the end, they were still a step too late. Because just after these rounds of rockets were fired, the hundreds of riders quickly evacuated without any nostalgia. So when the Liao army rushed out, they couldn't even catch their shadows...
When Xiao Qian knew the result again, he was no longer as angry as last night: "They are very smart. They expected early on that we would arrange soldiers and horses on both sides of the camp, so this time we attacked from the front. Launched an attack and caught us off guard. Moreover, compared to yesterday's simple harassment, today's offensive is much more powerful."
"King Xi, this can't be done. Our army has been harassed by them for two consecutive nights. I'm afraid the morale of the army has been messed up and it will be difficult to move as quickly as before." One of his subordinates said with worry.
"Yes, King Xi. I didn't expect that the Ever Victorious Army would have the courage to take the initiative. We must not underestimate the enemy as before."
Listening to what several of his subordinates said, Xiao Qian's expression became more and more solemn: "On the surface, it does appear to be what you said, but I always feel that this matter is a bit strange. This is different from the previous battles of the Ever Victorious Army. The method is completely different, as if the opponent is a different one. By the way, do they have any arrows left behind? Let me see."
After a while, several arrows with only half of them left were sent to Xiao Qian, and after carefully looking at the arrows, he smiled meaningfully: "Sure enough, what we are about to face is no longer... It’s just that the Ever Victorious Army is all the way, and there are Song people behind them. It seems that the situation in Zhuozhou City has indeed changed greatly, and that Song person Sun Tu has gained power."
"Why did the prince make such an inference?"
"It's just that these arrows are not owned by the Ever Victorious Army, but are used by the Song Army's standard crossbows." After throwing a few arrows to the ground, Xiao Qian frowned slightly again: "But he is so What is the purpose of doing this? Just such a small fight can certainly tire out our army, but it is absolutely unrealistic to really use it to bring us down. Unless... The ever-victorious army has fallen to the Song Dynasty. If If it were me, I should have immediately dispatched troops and horses to help the victorious army defend Zhuozhou, or take the opportunity to capture this key city. I always have to grab it before the enemy does."
After muttering a few words, Xiao Qian finally understood the other party's intentions and stood up Huo Di: "I understand, they are not doing this to cause us much damage, they just want to slow down our journey to Zhuozhou. .Obviously, the Song army’s backup is still far away from Zhuozhou, and they need time!”
Xi Wang Xiao Qian is indeed a rare famous general in the Liao Kingdom. In just two days, he had already seen through Sun Tu's true intention! This also made two gleams appear in his eyes: "Sun Tu is a good opponent. But you exposed your weaknesses too quickly. Since you want to delay time, I can't let you get it. Isn't it just some Is it a night attack and harassment tactic? Do you really want to stop my army with this trick?"