It has been nearly an hour since the letter king Zhao Zhen led the army into the forest. After a while, there was the sound of bows and arrows firing from the forest. Soon the warriors composed of swordsmen and disciples cheered, and swarmed and dragged several corpses out of the grass.
The Jianghu swordsman and the disciples immediately discovered that these bandits were dead, and the arrows only caused superficial injuries to them, but each of these bandits had a fatal wound on their necks.
Some injuries are from back to front, and some are from front to back. The wounds are large but the incisions are small. They were all cut to death in an instant. A few Jianghu swordsmen recognized the special wounds caused by special forces soldiers' surprise attacks with daggers. They turned the dead bandits over, and then looked back in awe at the letter that was slowly coming over on the horse. Wang Zhaozhen.
The letter king Zhao Zhen condescendingly looked at these bandits. If possible, the letter king Zhao Zhen would be more willing to encircle these robbers from the north in winter. As usual, they will definitely shrink their range of activities in the cold season.
But unfortunately, the tight time does not allow him to do this. Besides, the weather is gradually getting colder. It is not the best but at least not the worst. Under his gesture, the Jianghu swordsman fiddled with the bandit army that had been dead for a long time, so that he could see clearly the spears and other weapons that these bandits held tightly.
"It's an ordinary pawn at the lower level of the Bandit Army." Cui Hu replied looking at the corpses, "It seems that they kept the elite in the inner circle of the defense line. The more we go in, the greater the resistance we encounter."
Xin Wang Zhao Zhen nodded, but he did not say that this was actually good news. From the outside to the inside, the strength and alertness are gradually increasing. This is a relatively natural defensive distribution situation, just like the armies of the two sides in most traditional Jin-Song wars.
This shows that these bandit forces have not yet constituted a complete military organization. Simply put, they are not a pure army, but a bandit army group formed by a tribe and scattered governance. This also shows that the leader of the bandit army is not a soldier, but a horse bandit.
Before the attack, he was most worried about the situation that these bandit forces entrenched in the forest were a military organization formed by a regular Northwest Army that was completely out of the control of the imperial court. Now it seems that Xinwang Zhao Zhen can rest assured.
The letter king Zhao Zhen determined in his heart the bandit army in this forest. At present, the corpses they found are the inferior bandit army who acted as scouts at the outermost periphery, and then there may be more elite bandit fighters. These elite bandit fighters may be the exception of bandits. Outside of the direct army of the big boss and others, the bandit army has the strongest combat effectiveness.
But it is not to be feared for him.
The army of swordsmen and disciples who helped them quickly sifted through the forest area like a net, and found a total of more than 20 bodies in the forest.
It can be seen from the wounds and expressions of these corpses that most of the bandit soldiers had not had time to react when they were attacked.
Under the instant fatal attack, their lives were lost in a very short moment. Although the number of special forces soldiers is small, their ability to detect and counter-reconnaissance, assassins, and sneak attacks is unparalleled under the training of Xin Wang Zhaozhen. For bandit forces who rely on ordinary methods to distinguish danger, they are undoubtedly natural opponents. .
As the bandit’s eyes were plucked out one by one, the king of letter Zhao Zhen and his triumphant Miao Yufeng, Hua Zhonglong and Shan Hongfei led thousands of warriors to march in this jungle smoothly. It's beyond imagination.
Thousands of warriors walked cautiously along the silent woods in the afternoon. They stepped on the bright green ferns and made a rustling sound. Some even accidentally stepped on the dead branches with a sudden "click". It's shocking.
But fortunately, when the soldiers raised their heads nervously, they only saw some unnamed birds flapping their wings from the forest, but they couldn't see the alert signal from the bandits.
The soldiers who were ready to fight at any time did not encounter any attacks. Everyone knows that all this can only be attributed to the young King of Letters Chitose and his magical army. There are even more rumors that he is a god, and may even exceed the boundary between man and immortal. A powerful army symbolizes the power of authority and leadership, so the prestige of Wang Zhaozhen was unknowingly established among these fighters.
But when the letter king Zhao Zhen watched the warriors carrying long swords, broadswords, long bows, shields, and holding spears, they habitually scattered into small groups and walked through the grassland in the forest, but there was nothing in their hearts. Feelings at all. Although the results of the special forces soldiers are amazing, all this is not without cost. The special forces soldiers' sneak attacks on such a large scale cost a lot of physical strength. Now, their advancing speed is obviously slower.
Xin Wang Zhao Zhen frowned when he heard a strange bird call. The bird call was a signal, indicating that the special forces soldiers were already weak. He immediately sent someone to call the guide.
The ragged man came to him, raised his head and saw that Xin Wang Zhao Zhen's face was not very good, thinking that he had done something wrong to make the other party unhappy, and asked anxiously: "My lord, what's the matter? ?"
"How long is there?" Xinwang Zhao Zhen asked a little anxiously. There will be at most a quarter of an hour before he has to give up the action. After all, the special forces soldiers are his treasures. In case of attrition due to physical problems, he will regret it. Because he must let the special forces fighters take a break, and the real battle must be left until night or even early in the morning.
The guide let out a sigh of relief when he heard it. He hurriedly said: "I'll be here soon, my lord, you can see it by walking around the forest. The silver mine is built in the valley. I--" Before he could finish his words, there was a cooing cry in front of him. , This was a predetermined signal, Xin Wang Zhao Zhen raised her head and immediately saw the swordsman in front of him stopped and crouched down on the spot. And he saw the soldiers on the edge of the forest turned around and looked in this direction, and then gave him a gesture.
The letter king Zhao Zhen recognized the gesture, which means that the enemy has been found.
The special forces warned that there was an enemy, not annihilated. This shows that there may be a lot of enemies, and the special forces can't kill them in one shot. So they hibernated and sent a signal.
The letter king Zhao Zhen was slightly startled, and immediately turned over and dismounted and walked in that direction. Seeing his letter Wang Qiansui dismounted, the three behind Miao Yufeng, Hua Zhonglong and Shan Hongfei also took a look and climbed off their horses and followed them, followed by Cui Hu, Ma Yueying and Luo Yue'er. As for the last one. The eldest lady's eyes didn't have the slightest prudence in her eyes, on the contrary, they were full of cautious curiosity.
At the foot of a mountain, the woods became sparse. Xinwang Zhao Zhen and others soon came to the foot of the woodland mountain. The countless tree stumps on the edge indicated the traces of human smoke here.
"My lord!" A little boss immediately yelled respectfully after noticing the king of letter Zhao Zhen approaching. He looked back and just saw his former leader Shan Hongfei nodded to him.
The letter king Zhao Zhen said nothing. The forest formed a slope in front of him. Below the slope was the valley mentioned by the guide. The silver mine owned by Shimen City was built by the river. Originally, there was only a mine pit, a few wooden houses, and a larger silver refining yard, but now it has obviously changed its appearance. The bandit army converted it into a fort. They used stones and wood to build walls along the river beach, and they also piled up watch towers. The buildings piled up with earth and stones behind the walls are faintly visible. Xin Wang Zhao Zhen clicked on the number and inferred that there are probably more than two thousand bandits here. The army is stationed here.
"So many people, it's really tricky." The long-haired female village master looked from behind and frowned. He looked at Xin Wang Zhao Zhen, for fear that the latter would order them to attack by force.
But the letter king Zhao Zhen looked at the bandit forces patrolling along the river beach. Each team was led by a strong bandit army leader. Those bandit bosses are bandits with some good combat power or martial skills. If they attack the other side rashly, they may shrink into the stockade and waste the advantage of the raid. He looked back at Ji Qianqian and Cui Hu, and said, "What do you think? Is there any way?"
"Use our old method." Cui Hu replied. "The old way?" The others raised their heads and looked at Cui Hu.
The bandit army in the silver mine soon discovered that a group of men and horses appeared on the other side of the river beach. There were about dozens of men and horses. It seemed that they were big merchants or officials passing by here.
The appearance of this team is undoubtedly a stimulus to the bandits who have strong territorial awareness and looting. So the bandit’s camp soon sounded a sharp whistle and the wooden door creaked and opened. , The bandits rushed out, and the bandit army of more than 300 people, divided into two teams, waded towards the river beach.
They split up and tried to double-team. The dozens of people on the opposite side apparently also noticed the movement here. An archer dropped two arrows and missed one, while the other one shot but it didn't produce any effect. The arrow hit the chest of a bandit leader, and the huge impact caused him to step back in the river and splash with water. But nothing more. The bandit army wearing iron armor shook his head, then raised his spear and followed the team.
"The equipment is really good, there are iron armors." Shan Hongfei, who was hiding in the bushes, frowned. "The rumors are really true. These guys don't say ten thousand, even one thousand is difficult for us to deal with."
"The speed is fast. It's almost ten meters from the river to this side. They only took a short time. Obviously these bandits are training often, not ordinary bandits." Miao Yufeng said: "This is fast. It’s really scary, I’m afraid I practiced it while escaping."
Looking at the bandits on the opposite side, Xinwang Zhaozhen nodded. These bandit soldiers are indeed very strong, and their speed is about as fast as the second-line fighters of the Xinwang Army marching quickly. It is slower than the best regular army of Xinwangjun.
"Don't say it, our situation is very bad now. Our enemy is obviously very powerful." Shan Hongfei interrupted the conversation between Hua Zhonglong and the female leader, and said: "Look at that, at least in that silver mine There are more than two thousand bandit troops. Such a huge number can't be captured by our soldiers alone anyway!" The middle-aged man shook his head as he said, his long hair shining in the sun between the woods. .
He turned his head to the letter king Zhao Zhen and said, "Chitose, do you have any countermeasures?" His gaze turned to the letter king Zhao Zhen intentionally or unintentionally.
Ji Qianqian snorted softly on the side, he saw clearly this guy's plan. Indeed, relying on the strength of Xin Wang Zhao Zhen and Ma Yueying, even if it is a positive breakthrough, it will not seem difficult. Two powerful people basically have no problem dealing with these little thieves. There are many soldiers and the help of three leaders who are left, and at most two hours, the silver mine can be stormed.
But if these guys are led by the nose step by step, then what prestige does Xin Wang Qiansui still have
However, Ji Qianqian looked at Xin Wang Zhao Zhen's calm and confident face, and knew that the Xin Wang Zhao Zhen she had always followed must have been successful.
Therefore, Ji Qianqian said coldly: "The Bandit Army obviously does not have sophisticated craftsmen for making siege equipment, so they are not good at siege, no matter how strong their combat effectiveness, how fast they run, and how well equipped they are. We took the silver mine and turned offensive to defensive, but they couldn't do anything about it."
Hua Zhonglong turned his head and glanced at Xinwang Zhao Zhen, and said with some surprise: "There is such a thing? Xinwang Qiansui chose this place as an offensive point. Did you consider this?"
The letter king Zhao Zhen heard that although the surface was calm, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but cramp, and she secretly said that this guy really doesn't have much brains, and she couldn't even think of this.
It is actually a common phenomenon that silver mines are located close to the river. Firstly, they are close to the mines, and for the convenience of downstream transportation, and secondly, they can be built with timber on site for defense. And Xin Wang Zhao Zhen has a more far-reaching plan. He wants to build a waterwheel to let the water drive power and build a simple mine kinetic energy machine.
"There are countermeasures." Xinwang Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "It depends on how much our decoy can draw out the opponent's troops."
The letter king Zhao Zhen turned around and smiled at these nominal subordinates, and said: "But you can relax. This battle is not as difficult as you think. Take him as a swordsman of yours and help all the disciples become Real warriors, and warm up with each other."
warm up? Not only the three big leaders, but also the heads of many gangs and sects were all taken aback. An army composed of two or three thousand swordsmen and disciples who helped the disciples faced more than two thousand bandit soldiers. What kind of warm-up was this? No matter how hard you looked at it, it was a hard battle evenly matched.
"Wait and see." Xin Wang Zhao Zhen sank, and his eyes fell on the river beach. The battle on the river beach has just begun at this moment. When the'businessmen or officials' team noticed the intent of the bandit army, they began to retreat to the side of the forest. Their speed was very fast, but still not as good as the bandit army. Natural advantage, not long after being caught up at the edge of the forest.
But the archers in that team immediately shot arrows to stop the enemy from approaching.
When everyone saw the precise shooting of the opponent's archers, they even shot five or six bandits in a short period of time, making the bandits dare not approach.
Everyone was taken aback. Only by practicing archery for a few years can they have such an archery ability. Although it is still far from the legendary state of Li Guang shooting the tiger, it can at least prove that he is on the court. Those archers at least have the strength of elite regular army archers.
Who is so extravagant to send his own elite shooters to act as bait.
Others turned their heads one after another, wanting to see who was willing to send their archers to the front line as bait. However, only Shan Hongfei caught the indifferent smile on Hua Zhonglong's face beside him.
"Long in the flower, is that your person?" He asked in a low voice. The head of the gang on North Jinghu Road nodded nonchalantly. "Ma Ao's archer team are the best archers in our league. They are all hunters and can shoot bears and tigers." He replied.
"You are really willing." Shan Hongfei did not feel relieved after confirming the thoughts in his mind, but instead developed a sense of crisis.
This middle-aged man with long hair looked at the tall and silent dragon in the flower, and then at the silent letter Wang Zhaozhen, and suddenly felt that his position in Wang Zhaozhen's mind was shaken.
At first, in the battle that night, he fought side by side with the young King Xin for the longest time, thinking that it should be no problem for him to make a first impression in front of King Xin Wang by performance.
Unexpectedly, this seemingly taciturn and honest veteran had unknowingly reached a tacit understanding with the believer Zhao Zhen.
Maybe some agreement was reached in private.
Shan Hongfei cursed in his heart and gritted his teeth. But immediately his gaze was subconsciously attracted by the battle at the edge of the forest.
When the archers shot back the bandit chasers, all the fighters quickly retreated to a very advantageous hill.
The archers immediately retreated behind the other fighters to rest, and several archers leaned their entire bodies on the hill next to the big tree, panting. The rapid shooting of those strong bows and arrows before, obviously consumed a lot of their physical strength and energy.
But the effect is obvious. As Ji Qianqian said, the Bandit Army is not good at attacking defensive positions and defensive facilities. These soldiers from the north launched another attack after dozens of people on the opposite side retreated on a hill.
However, after only one face to face, the bandit army was knocked down by those soldiers taking advantage of the geographical position. Their corpses rolled back and landed on the beach for several laps before stopping. Their companions stepped aside, and then slowed down somewhat at a loss.
The bandit soldiers looked at each other, but the bandit leaders who came up from behind immediately made a sharp whistle-like sound with leaves, causing them to spread out and start a siege from all sides.