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Liang Yingcai gathered the defeated soldiers. Although he only lost more than a hundred men, they were so frightened by Su Jin's cavalry that came and went like the wind that he dared not advance rashly again.
When Zhang Qi arrived with 6,000 troops, he saw Liang Yingcai and a group of dispirited and defeated soldiers hiding on the hillside, daring neither to advance nor to retreat.
Jingguan, and another Jingguan. A Jingguan on the roadside was shocking. More than a hundred human heads were piled together, and the blood had not yet dried. It looked extremely terrifying. In one day, they had seen Jingguan twice. The scalps of the six thousand rebels were tingling, and they were whispering to each other. Qin Mu's troops soon became a synonym for the devil in their mouths.
It seems that the construction of Jingguan only existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, there have been few reports of Jingguan. Now Jingguan has appeared again, and the heads used to build Jingguan are those of his accomplices, the accomplices who were chatting and laughing with him yesterday.
Seeing the Jingguan built with a hundred corpses and a hundred heads are two completely different feelings. In this chaotic world where human life is worthless, unburied corpses can often be seen on the roadside, and everyone's nerves are in trouble.
But if one hundred heads were chopped off and piled together, the visual impact would be a hundred times stronger. Probably more than half of the six thousand rebels would have nightmares from tonight, dreaming of a large number of human heads flying around them.
Zhang Qi was filled with hatred and helplessness as he watched the morale of the troops getting lower and lower. He knew very well that if he could not win a victory as soon as possible, his army would be frightened and flee when they encountered Qin Mu's demon army in the future.
He quickly gave the order to bury the heads and corpses together with the built Jingguan, and strictly ordered the soldiers not to talk about the Jingguan anymore. Then he ordered Liang Yingcai to atone his sins and lead a hundred cavalrymen to explore the way ahead. Nearly seven thousand troops continued to march towards Wanzai in a mighty manner.
As a result, after only walking seven or eight miles, Su Jin's more than 100 cavalrymen appeared in front of them like ghosts. Liang Yingcai also had 100 cavalrymen exploring the way, but they were frightened by Su Jin's whistles and turned around and ran away;
Seeing that Liang Yingcai was like a frightened bird, Su Jin certainly did not show any mercy and immediately chased him relentlessly until Zhang Qi was more than half a mile ahead of the army. He then stopped and arrogantly cursed and provoked the nearly 7,000 rebels.
"Zhang Qizai, listen to your grandfather. I advise you to retreat back into your turtle shell."
"Hahaha, Zhang Qizai. Even though you have 7,000 men and horses, in my opinion, you are just a pig with a group of sheep. If you piss me off, I will slaughter you and use you as a snack for my wine."
"That's right. These sons of bitches often eat human flesh. Let them experience the feeling of being eaten."
"Zhang Qizai, if you have the guts, come and bite your grandfather's bird."
Even a clay man still has some character. It is not a good feeling for 7,000 men to be ridden and shitted on by more than 100 people. If we ignore it, it will be a fatal blow to morale.
Zhang Qizai immediately ordered his troops to press forward. Su Jin rode his horse and trotted for half a mile. Then he stopped to provoke him. This happened several times. Zhang Qizai's infantry could neither catch up nor get rid of him. This made the seven thousand rebels nervous and their morale even lower.
This was not a solution, so Zhang Qi had no choice but to send out all of his 200-odd cavalrymen. He was ready to fight Su Jin head-on. Even if they could only draw, they would not be so passive, and it would also have a significant effect on boosting morale.
When Su Jin saw more than 200 rebel cavalrymen rushing out together, he immediately turned around and ran. The two sides were more than a mile apart. After chasing for five or six miles, Su Jin made a quick turn and turned back. The 200 rebels, under the strict order of Zhang Qi, were about to have a hard fight with Su Jin, but suddenly bursts of gongs and drums were heard from the hillsides on both sides.
"Oh no! There's an ambush..." More than 200 rebels were so frightened that they turned around and fled without thinking.
Su Jin and his men chased after Zhang Qi with strange cries, and finally caught up with him in front of the army. This time, the more than 200 rebels were not as lucky as Liang Yingcai just now. Fifty or sixty of them were hacked to death by Su Jin and his men. Those who managed to escape were all in a daze, and some even lost their weapons.
Su Jin's troops were still stopped more than half a mile away. This time they had no time to provoke, but were busy chopping off the heads of the dead and wounded rebels. Right under the noses of Zhang Qi's 7,000 rebels, Su Jin and his men unscrupulously chopped off the heads of the rebels and gathered the ownerless war horses. This was more effective than any verbal provocation.
Zhang Qi was furious at what he saw, but the seven thousand rebels all had expressions of grief, and a pessimistic mood continued to spread among the rebels;
Although they are numerous, they are all infantry and cannot be caught up with. They also have to be careful that they may suddenly turn around and charge back. A hundred cavalrymen may not sound like a lot, but when they charge together, the sound of their hooves is like thunder, and the momentum is extremely shocking. It should not be underestimated.
Zhang Qi ordered the army to press forward, and Su Jin and others retreated quickly. When the rebels moved, they moved; when the rebels stopped, they stopped too. Anyway, they just wandered around a mile or two away, making the 7,000 rebels feel like a thorn in their backs. They were extremely uncomfortable, but helpless.
Zhang Qi's heart kept sinking. He was constantly harassed by this ghostly cavalry. The marching speed was extremely slow. At the current speed, it might take three days to reach Wanzai.
Although there were 2,000 soldiers stationed in Wanzai City, the only road leading to Wanzai was cut off, and the messengers could not pass through. I am afraid that Wanzai was still unaware of the attack by the government troops.
It is conceivable that the main force led by Qin Mu must be advancing towards Wanzai at full speed. If the Wanzai defenders are caught off guard and captured by Qin Mu in one fell swoop, Qin Mu will be able to turn the tables and fight or retreat as he pleases, while his own 7,000 troops will be blocked under the strong city, caught in a dilemma.
There is another point that Zhang Qi has to face. Lu Daqi's 80,000 troops are coming from Nanchang. At the current speed, they will reach Yuanzhou in five days at most, which will be one or two days earlier than Zhang Xianzhong.
Although he had ordered all 10,000 troops scattered in the surrounding counties to return to defend Yuanzhou, how could he feel at ease with only 10,000 troops against 80,000
Once the Jiangyou Gate of Yuanzhou was lost again, Zhang Xianzhong would surely punish him when he arrived with his army. Therefore, he had to fight quickly and destroy Qin Mu as soon as possible, and then return to defend Yuanzhou before Lu Daqi arrived to ensure that Yuanzhou was safe.
But Su Jin's ghostly cavalry made his idea of a quick victory unrealistic. Should he give up Wanzai? This thought flashed through Zhang Qi's mind, but he immediately rejected it.
Not to mention the once-in-a-lifetime loss, Yuanzhou would have to be attacked from both sides. Just the fact that if he turned around now, it would be a question whether the 7,000 troops would be willing to follow him back to Ganzhou.
After the setbacks and with low morale, the 7,000 troops had only been assembled for less than a month, and they did not have much cohesion yet. Now they were relying on one breath to hold on. If they turned around halfway, it would be the same as running away. There would definitely be a large number of deserters, and they would have no combat effectiveness even if they returned to Yuanzhou.
Therefore, we must never give up Wanzai unless it is absolutely necessary.
Zhang Qi divided his 7,000 troops into two armies. The front army was commanded by his general Mo Qingniu, and the two armies supported each other. At the same time, the remaining cavalry were responsible for scout the two wings and keep an eye on Su Jin's movements. The army continued to advance forward, and in this way, the speed was much faster.
When they arrived at the place where the two hundred cavalrymen had encountered an "ambush", they suddenly saw a small Jingguan on the side of the road. Sixty or seventy bloody human heads were piled together. Their hideous appearance seemed to be mocking the rebels who were treading on thin ice.
Half a mile away from Jingguan, Su Jin's more than 100 cavalrymen were leisurely stationed on the road, already forming a charge formation. Mo Qingniu immediately shouted, "Prepare for battle, prepare for battle..."
The spearmen in front immediately contracted their formation, with the tips of their spears pointing diagonally forward, forming a dense forest of spears at the front of the army. However, they did not stop, but instead advanced forward step by step, waiting only for Su Jin's cavalry to begin the charge before they would drop the long tails of their spears to the ground.
More than 2,000 people advanced like a wall, making a dull sound of footsteps, with scouts galloping on both sides, but even so, there was still a sudden and violent sound of gongs and drums coming from the hillside;
"Oh no, there is an ambush." The rebels screamed. At the same time, Su Jin's cavalry also started to move forward, accelerated, and rushed towards the rebels, making the rebels lose sight of the big picture.
"Shoot, shoot..." Mo Qingniu kept yelling in the chaos. As a result, before Su Jin and his men got into the shooting range, a rain of arrows rose up from the rebel formation. Su Jin's men just stopped outside the shooting range, laughing wildly.
It was only then that Mo Qingniu realized that there was only thunder but no rain on the hillsides on both sides, and there were no ambush troops rushing down at all. No wonder the scouts on both wings failed to discover the enemy situation in advance. It seemed that Su Jin only sent a few people to hide on the mountain and beat drums and gongs randomly. Once his side was scared and thrown into chaos, Su Jin would have the best opportunity to charge.
Mo Qingniu was secretly lucky that he had commanded the army well. Although his two thousand men were panicked, they did not become a mess. Otherwise, they would have been killed and defeated like Liang Yingcai.
After feeling thankful, the feeling of being fooled made him angry and ashamed. "Forward, forward, push forward and kill these bastards." Mo Qingniu kept shouting and ordered the two thousand men to continue to advance step by step.
"Woo... ... ... ... "Su Jin's men let out a strange cry and then galloped away. This time they did not stay a mile or two away to wait and see, but disappeared completely.
But this made Mo Qingniu even more cautious. This ghostly cavalry was wandering two or three miles away. At least within sight, their every move could be seen. Now they suddenly disappeared, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet. This made people even more uneasy, fearing that they would suddenly appear from some unexpected place and launch a surprise attack on them.
Mo Qingniu hurriedly sent out scouts to track them, but the scouts often never returned. Later, the rebels who were forced to go for reconnaissance quietly deserted without any trouble from Su Jin and his men. It is better to be a deserter than to be a corpse, right
Su Jin's troops disappeared, and the scouts he sent out did not return. The 7,000 rebels were like blind men, marching back and forth anxiously, with every step they took being frightened... (To be continued...)
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