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A distance of one hundred and three miles would take infantry four or five days to reach no matter how fast they travel.
Chen Ruizheng, under Cui Feng's order, led a thousand men and horses to rush to Kunming City. Although the Tusi troops along the way had withdrawn, he encountered no obstacles, but when he arrived in Kunming, he was still a step late.
After two days of plundering Kunming City and the surrounding counties by Sha Dingzhou's army of nearly 10,000, what remained was a desolate scene after the disaster. Many homes of wealthy gentry were looted, entire families were slaughtered, and homes were often burned to the ground.
This was supposed to be a time when thousands of families celebrated the New Year, but the city of Kunming was covered with blood, paper money was flying everywhere, and there were cries of grief. Even ordinary people seemed numb to the arrival of the Qin army. Seeing this scene was heartbreaking.
Yu Zhen, a centurion stationed in Kunming by Yebushou, came out in a hurry and said to Chen Ruizheng: "After two days of looting, Shadingzhou fled back to Amizhou with a large amount of property. They have been walking for two days. According to their journey, they have probably reached Xinxingzhou (Yuxi City) south of Erhai Lake. Shadingzhou troops in Chuxiong to the west are also retreating southward."
"Quickly report this news to the General of the Southern Expedition, and I will lead my troops to pursue Sha Dingzhou. By the way, is there any news about General Ma?"
"General Bingchen, General Ma's whereabouts are very erratic and he is moving very fast. It is difficult to know where he is exactly at the moment, but his target should be Amizhou."
Ma Liuliang's unconventional set of punches forced Sha Dingzhou to abandon a large area around Kunming. This was hard to imagine beforehand, but this move had both advantages and disadvantages for the Qin army.
The advantage was that the Qin army could smoothly take control of the Kunming area, but the disadvantage was that after Shadingzhou retreated to the base of Amizhou, the troops were concentrated and had the best geographical advantages. The Qin army had no chance to defeat them one by one, and it would be more difficult to attack in the future.
In Chen Ruizheng's opinion, the only way to achieve a quick victory is to catch up with Sha Dingzhou before he retreats to Ami Prefecture.
However, his military strength was too small, and he could not contact Ma Liuliang's three thousand troops, so the situation was really tricky.
In the end, Chen Ruizheng gritted his teeth and left 200 men to temporarily manage Kunming City, and took 800 men with him to the south to pursue Sha Dingzhou.
Now, not to mention that Chen Ruizheng didn’t know where Ma Liuliang was, even Sha Dingzhou who fled south didn’t know either.
It's hard to believe that even Ma Liuliang didn't know where he was.
At first, they encountered an attack by two hundred chieftain soldiers in a place called Baishekou. Although the other side had only two hundred people, Baishekou was surrounded by mountains on both sides, and the road in the middle was only a few feet wide. It could be said that one man could block the pass against ten thousand men.
Ma Liuliang sent his troops to attack for half an hour, but it was difficult to break through quickly, so in order to reach Amizhou before Sha Dingzhou, he chose to take a detour through the mountains.
Soon after the three thousand men entered the mountains, they encountered a heavy fog. They could not see the sun and the forests were covered in white. As they walked, they lost their way.
After walking for a day, we still couldn't find the way. The forest became denser and denser, and the forest was shrouded in mist all day long. Even if it didn't rain, the leaves were wet. We couldn't walk for long. Our clothes would get wet.
Tall trees towered into the sky, and short shrubs and vines were everywhere. From time to time, the sounds of monkeys and tigers could be heard, wild animals in the forest ran away in fear, and strange birds cried. There was no sunlight in the sky, and the air was filled with the smell of rotting grass leaves.
After trying for most of the day, they still couldn't get out of the jungle. Everyone was cold and tired. A few people accidentally fell into a swamp covered with fallen leaves and were instantly drowned. There was no time to rescue them. Dozens of people were injured or fell off the rocks.
The originally high morale gradually became low. In order to increase the speed, the army marched lightly and the food and fodder they brought was only enough for three days. If they could not get out of the vast jungle within three days, everyone would starve to death.
Deputy General He Jinan came to ask Ma Liuliang: "General Ma, what should we do?"
Ma Liuliang was a little annoyed and responded in a buzzing voice: "You ask me, who should I ask? Sour scholar, you know everything about astronomy and geography, so what do you say we should do?"
Tang Yue replied angrily: "I told you not to take risks, but you didn't listen. Now, even if I know everything about astronomy and geography, look at this place, there is no ground above or below. What can I do?"
At this time, Hou San came up and said, "Matou'er, I just remembered that we walked across a stream just now."
"What happened to walking across the creek?"
"Horse Head, I suddenly remembered what the old man said. If you get lost in the mountains, the dumbest way is to follow the stream. The stream flows to a lower place and will definitely not circle back to the same place. As long as you follow the stream, you will find the way out as soon as possible."
"Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Matou'er, I just remembered this..."
"Look back, look back!"
Ma Liuliang roared loudly. Fortunately, he had not passed far from the stream. Following the traces of the army, he could easily find the stream he had passed before.
The three thousand troops marched along the stream, taking turns to send people in front to cut trees and thorns to clear a path. Despite this, many soldiers' clothes were torn and tattered, like savages, and the three thousand men were in an extremely miserable state.
At night, they huddled in the jungle. Fortunately, it was cold, and there were no annoying creatures like mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, etc. Most of Ma Liuliang's 3,000 men were born as mountain people and were more adapted to this environment. None of them fell ill for the time being.
We continued walking the next day, and after another whole day, the road ahead suddenly became clear. A stream rushed out of the ravine and merged into a river.
Looking out, along both sides of the river, you can vaguely see a few thatched houses, a road winding from the other side of the mountain, and a wooden bridge over the river... ...
Seeing this scene, although it was not clear where they were, the soldiers who had been hiding in the mountains for two days almost cried.
"Damn it, finally..."
"Hush! Lie down, lie down! There are enemies, retreat back to the woods first, quickly..." He Jinan in the front suddenly shouted.
Wu Xiaoliu quickly stopped talking and pulled the soldiers around him back into the bushes.
Yes, two or three miles away on the other side of the river, a mighty group of troops came over from the other side of the mountain, with two or three thousand infantrymen leading the way in front, and carriages and horses everywhere in the middle. The carriages were full of things and covered tightly with oilcloth.
Needless to say, as soon as one looked at the messy attire of these people, one could tell they were the chieftain's army.
Between the long array of vehicles, there were even ceremonial guards and fluttering flags, just like a royal procession. On the flags, one could see a big “Sha” character…
Tang Yue carefully looked through the bushes with a telescope and couldn't help but exclaimed in ecstasy: "Oh my God, this is Shadingzhou, it must be Shadingzhou, how strange, isn't Shadingzhou in Kunming? Could it be that we are in Kunming?"
"Sour Scholar, stop shouting. The enemy's scouts are approaching. Everyone, retreat deep into the woods. Hurry up."
When a large army marches, it is common sense to send out scouts all around. Sha Dingzhou was no exception. When two or three riders came galloping towards the woods from afar, Ma Liuliang and his men quickly retreated into the woods.
"Fuck it, this is great. The hard work of the past two days has paid off. I finally ran into Shadingzhou... By the way, Sour Scholar, are you sure you are coming to Shadingzhou? I remember seeing the Sha character flag in Qujing."
"General Ma, didn't you see the procession of honor that was like that of a king? In Yunnan today, besides Sha Dingzhou, who else can put on such a show?"
"Hehe, I hope you are right, Sour Scholar. I'm rich this time, I'm rich!" Ma Liuliang was so happy that his eyes were shining and his tongue was licking his lips subconsciously, just like a wolf seeing meat.
The soldiers couldn't help whispering and spreading the news excitedly. They had lived like savages for the past two days and had suffered so much. It was really a relief for those who worked hard. God was on our side again.
Everyone fell silent only when the enemy sentries approached the edge of the woods. The enemy sentries were just spreading out as a routine, and obviously they did not expect anyone to be able to pass through this vast jungle where few people had ever been, so they did not enter the woods to search.
Sha Dingzhou's troops began to cross the river from the wooden bridge two or three miles away. Two or three thousand infantrymen crossed the east side of the river first, and then came the Yangyang procession and luxurious carriages. If what was expected was correct, this should be the ceremonial guard of Sha Dingzhou and Wan.
After the enemy troops in front, including Sha Dingzhou's carriages, crossed the river, they stopped and waited for the heavy carts to cross the bridge. It took a full hour for the hundreds of carts to pass completely.
There were still six or seven thousand troops on the west bank of the river. Although their formation was disorganized, they looked calm. It was obvious that this disorganization was their original style and was not caused by their busy escape.
"General Ma, Sha Dingzhou has crossed the river, start the movement."
"Don't worry, don't worry. There are still 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers behind us. If we charge out now, these 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers will escape. Wait a little longer..."
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ps: Brothers, others have caught up. I am taking medicine while typing this chapter. I dare not be lazy. Please support me, brothers. Please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes!
.(To be continued..)
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