Zhang Yunzheng looked down at the Beirong army at the foot of the mountain, they were all cavalry, with strong horses and sturdy soldiers.
Rose tsk-tsk on the side: "They all look very powerful."
Zhang Yunzheng sneered: "Don't be soft for a while."
Rose raised her chest: "How could it be?! I have already trained my arms to be strong, and I can't even be soft!"
Zhang Yunzheng stopped talking to him, turned his head and said to the people behind him: "The twenty people in front are at their positions, just guard and don't let them come up, that's enough, the others should stay hidden!" Everyone responded.
Zhang Yunzheng stared at the cliff again, and said silently: "You guys have to come in! Don't leave..." In a trance, he remembered that he had seen himself chasing his father and brother outside the capital in the eyes of the sky, watching them go away, heartbroken It's unbearable, but now, I am standing on the front line of the battlefield, facing the invaders directly, completely ready. A deep sense of satisfaction filled his heart, Zhang Yunzheng had a proud smile on his lips, bright eyes, and said in his heart: Little liar, thanks to you...
Rose on the side whispered: "Master, why are you smiling so charmingly? Beirong and the others can't see..."
Zhang Yunzheng said seriously: "Stop joking! Go and watch over the wine barrel! Get ready to work! Don't be lazy!"
Rose complained: "The kitchen has been evacuated for several days, and I can only eat dry food. I am hungry..."
Zhang Yunzheng looked at his back and said, "If you don't work hard, you won't even think about eating in this life!"
Rose walked and muttered: "It's still Xiao Dingzi who treats me well..."
He Duo was also looking at the blocked valley entrance in a group of iron rides. According to the guide, after leaving this valley, there will not be many mountains, and it will take half a day to enter the hilly plain area. Walk slowly in the mountains. Big characters were written in red paint in front of the cliff, and the translator told He Duo that it meant that Bei Rong would die if he entered the valley. He Duo almost laughed: they encountered this kind of red paint warning several times along the way, and they were all at the entrances of valleys and ravines, saying that Beirong would die if he entered, but there was nothing inside! These people also write in Chinese! There is no Beirong language written, so there must be a spectrum to deceive people, okay? How can you write words that the other party doesn't know? It can be seen that it was the work of literati who were unprepared for Beirong's attack. The Nan people are so weak that they can only stop the Bei Rong cavalry by writing a few threatening words! He didn't know that Zhang Yunzheng asked Yulan to write these slogans purely to deal with Shen Wen's guilt. He didn't care if Bei Rong could understand or not. Anyway, he had put Ji Wenzhao's suggestion into practice, and that was enough.
The scouts who came back from the front reported that the entrance of the valley was blocked by branches and weeds, and there were more than a dozen people on the cliff defending with bows and arrows.
He Duo felt sorry for these southerners! He himself rode to the front of the battle, and found that the mouth of the valley was indeed covered with damp vegetation. He ordered a fire to be lit, and replied that the things were too wet to light a fire at all. He Duo ordered people to remove these obstacles. Several hundred soldiers stepped forward and threw them with long forks. After working for a whole day, they finally opened a narrow path between the piles of grass and trees.
The other Beirong cavalry camped and rested on the spot, and it was impossible for the people on the cliff to come down, so they could only sometimes shoot cold arrows at the working Beirong soldiers, and shot down a few people who were close to the cliff, making the Beirong soldiers panic. Stay as far away from the cliffs they are on as possible. He Duo asked people to find a way to go up the cliff, trying to get rid of the southerners on the cliff, but the mountain road was destroyed, the slope was steep and the rocks were straight, and the opponent's archery skills were accurate, and the soldiers who attacked upwards could not get close at all, and there were 100% casualties . After attacking two or three times, when night fell and the mouth of the valley was opened, He Duo asked people not to attack for now. He sent scout horses to explore the situation in the valley and the way outside the valley. We have to wait for Tan Ma to come back to see if these people have backup.
There was nothing to say all night, and Tan Ma, who came back in the morning, said that there was no ambush in the valley, and there were not too many trees, which could not be attacked by fire. There is no one in the valley for a hundred miles, just as the guide said, the terrain is flat and easy for horses to run.
Knowing that these people were fighting alone, He Duo ordered someone to attack the cliff at the entrance of the valley, but was also shot back by crossbow arrows, so he didn't want to continue the attack—the most urgent thing is to get out of the mountains! On the plains, his cavalry is unstoppable and can reach the capital quickly. The trick of these southerners is to let him waste more time here! So that the mainland can entangle military forces to stop him. It's not worth an extra day for him to be here now! He decided not to get entangled with these people anymore, what else could they do other than shoot cold arrows? !
He Duo ordered the army to pull out the camp, the cavalry mounted their horses, and marched into the valley, leaving only a small group of people at the bottom of the cliff to confront the people on the top.
Zhang Yunzheng ordered people to shoot arrows sporadically from the top of the cliff to the bottom of the cliff, apparently to stop the army from advancing. But compared with an army of hundreds of thousands, their arrows are nothing compared to a drop in the bucket, at most they are a drop in the bucket. The soldiers of Beirong under the cliff also shot arrows at the cliff, but they suffered from the terrain and could not completely suppress the southerners. He Duo ordered the troops to avoid the cliffs over there as much as possible and rush into the valley quickly to avoid casualties.
On the stone wall at the exit of the valley, Lord Xiaoyao stood by the line of fire of the explosives, holding a few thick sticks of incense that had already been lit. He had already seen Beirong's vanguard approaching this way, and turned his neck to look north again, cursing: "Little bastard, why is there no signal yet? These people are going out of the valley! I hate smelling this incense burner the most." The smell, the nose is blocked!"
On the top of the mountain behind Xiaoyaogong, Zhang Ding and Yulan also stretched their necks to look into the distance. Zhang Ding murmured in a low voice: "Young master, can this work be done?" Yulan said: "It can be done! We have moved so many wine barrels, nearly a thousand! I have only been working for a day and my waist is almost broken. The main thing is to paint, so I don’t have to do such hard work.” Zhang Ding asked: “Is the wine barrel useful?” Yulan said: “Yes!” Zhang Ding didn’t believe it, and Yulan said in a very low voice: “I told you you can Don't tell anyone..."
Zhang Ding looked around, "Who should I tell to go to this barren mountain?!"
Yulan still leaned closer to Zhang Ding's ear: "Wine can catch fire!"
Zhang Ding looked at the valley below where the rocks were exposed, shook his head and said, "Those people have all left the valley entrance in the north. There are not many trees in this valley, and even a fire can't kill a few people."
Yulan was also worried: "Then I don't understand. The young master hoarded all the wine barrels and jars on the north cliff, and piled up a lot of wet grass."
Zhang Ding's eyes widened: "It's fine if it's dry, it can still burn, how can it be wet?!"
At the entrance of the valley, the Beirong cavalry still rode in in a group, and the soldiers on the cliff stopped their useless archery. Looking at the tail of the army gradually coming into sight, Zhang Yunzheng shouted: "They are about to pass! Put the teleportation board out!" The support had already been buried on the ground, and a few people started to connect the several wooden boards to the teleportation board that had already been built. At the end of the trough, the trough frame becomes a round hook shape, and the end protrudes from the stone cliff. On top of them, the top of the shelf was near the cave. People had rolled wine barrels out of the cave and placed them in a row at the entrance of the wooden trough. Rose shouted to Zhang Yunzheng: "Everything is ready!"
The Beirong soldiers down the valley noticed a piece of wood protruding from the cliff, but they didn't feel any threat. Some people bent their bows and shot a few arrows upwards. Seeing that the group of people was passing by, they got on their horses and kicked their stirrups, ready to follow the group.
This Beirong army is full of cavalry, and there are no soldiers on foot. The team moves quickly. Seeing the last few Beibei soldiers riding into the entrance of the valley, Zhang Yunzheng shouted to the mountain: "Roses! Do it!" Although everyone is used to it The name rose, but at this extremely tense moment, when they suddenly heard this shout, seeing the big and round rose rolling the barrels into the trough one by one, some people still laughed. Rose was angry: "What are you laughing at! Express bucket!"
The wooden barrel containing the wine rolled down the wooden trough, and the end of the wooden trough tilted towards the sky. The wooden barrel accumulated speed through gravity, was thrown into the air, and then fell from the sky and fell into the valley. The people who had already entered the valley looked back, and suddenly saw wooden barrels falling from the sky above the valley, feeling a little bewildered. The wooden barrels hit the ground, most of them fell apart, and some fell on the grass and trees without breaking.
Zhang Yunzheng shouted: "Shoot the rocket!" Several soldiers tied the lit cotton wool to the arrowhead and shot it into the valley under the cliff. At first, there was no movement. Finally, a flame from an arrow ignited the liquor leaking from the wooden barrel. With a bang, the blue flame swept away like a layer of silk.
Seeing the fire, Zhang Yunzheng said to everyone: "Get ready for the bed crossbow!" Then he shouted to the top: "Rosa rose! Hurry up!"
Rose also shouted: "I'll throw myself down anytime soon!"
Everyone laughed again.
The grass and trees at the foot of the mountain were too wet, and after being ignited by liquor, they could not burn. At first, there was only a puff of white smoke, and the valley was like a chimney. The smoke was blown by the north wind, diffused, and floated into the valley...
The reserve soldiers who had already entered the valley didn't react for a while, but they soon felt that something was wrong, and immediately turned their horses and walked back to put out the fireworks. Zhang Yunzheng yelled: "Shoot the crossbow!" All the crossbows on the bed were fired at once, and the Beirong sergeants were horrified to find that, unlike the previous scattered arrows, this time the arrows were as dense as rain, completely covering the road at Taniguchi. The cavalry charged several times, but they were all shot on their backs, unable to approach the haystack. Not long after, Rose and the others had already dropped more than a hundred wooden barrels, and the fire ignited by the alcohol on the pile of grass and trees finally ignited. The dark red flame grilled the damp grass and trees, and the white smoke turned into thick smoke, like a ferocious monster. , rolled and rushed towards the people in the valley...
The cavalry could no longer charge against the wind, but could only turn and run towards the mouth of the valley.
Lord Xiaoyao looked anxiously at the north. Below him, the vanguard of Beirong had already left the valley! At this moment, Zhang Ding and Yulan's shouts came from his head: "Smoke! Master! Smoke!"
Xiaoyao Gong only glanced at the smoke in the north, and quickly lit the fire with incense. Once the fire was lit, it burned very quickly, and it was a few inches shorter in the blink of an eye! Xiaoyao Gong didn't dare to be careless, turned around and ran, and went straight up to the top of the mountain with lightness kung fu. As soon as he reached the top of the mountain, he heard a loud noise below, and both he and Zhang Dingyulan were shocked and fell to the ground. Then I saw a cloud of dust rising into the sky, reaching the middle of the mountain, completely covering the sight. When the dust settled down a little, the three of them climbed to the top of the mountain and looked down, only to see that the cliff where Mr. Xiaoyao was just now was gone, and there was a large pile of rocks at the bottom of the valley, as tall as half a person, almost completely blocking the valley entrance. , the sergeants around the stone pile were scattered and fled.
Lord Xiaoyao shook his head: "What is this? It was quite loud, but it didn't kill a few people, and the people behind could still crawl out."
Zhang Ding said: "But at least the horses are more strenuous, right?"
Mr. Xiaoyao sneezed and said with tears welling up, "What is this smell? It's so choking? I hate the smell of smoke the most..."
Zhang Ding and Yulan also started to sneeze. Looking down, a puff of black smoke in the valley was spreading upwards along the mountain. Xiaoyao Gong understood: "I know why you shouldn't come! You are such a burden, I have to take you with me! Run! Don't forget to hold my wine!" Ding and Yulan, from the back of the mountain, picked up the slightly gentle hillside, and had to take turns to take Zhang Ding and Yulan down the mountain when they reached the dangerous point, avoiding the Beirong people who had already left the valley, ran towards the plain, and went to find Pingyuanhou .
The Beirong soldiers in the valley were not as lucky as those like Xiaoyao Gong. The black smoke at the mouth of the valley in the north was getting thicker and thicker, and after a loud noise in the south, the team could not move forward, and the army was soon drowned in the thick smoke.
In later generations, the sorghum stalks burned on the farmers' plains can be seen from high altitude because of their rich texture. There are many fibrous dusts in the grass smoke, sticking to the nasal mucous membrane, causing difficulty in breathing and even suffocation. Horses have more sensitive noses and are more likely to be irritated by smoke. A man can cover his nose with his sleeve, but a horse cannot escape the smoke. Soon, many horses in the valley became restless due to the thick smoke, and began to neigh and jump. Some horses jumped wildly and ran wildly in the valley, trying to break out of the thick smoke, but the south exit was blocked by gravel, and the horses could not move. Galloping out of the valley, he could only walk carefully on the gravel. In the crowd, a group of people and horses at the entrance of the valley were pushed to the ground and became a barrier, making it even more difficult for people in the valley to escape. The people and horses struggled in the valley, and the whole valley was covered in black In the smoke, turned into a meat grinder...
Zhang Yunzheng adjusted the direction of the support so that the sliding wooden barrel was thrown into another area. Although he was upwind and covered his face with a cloth towel, he was almost suffocated by the rising black smoke. It can lead the people on the cliff to withdraw to the entrance of the wooden trough above. Half an hour later, even the people on the cliff had to cover their faces with wet wipes. They were all dizzy and their heartbeats were racing. Rush into the smoke and push down the barrel.
After a while, the damp grass and trees were dried by the flame ignited by alcohol, and some finally burned, and the fire was bigger, roasting more grass and trees... The smoke from the valley mouth also rose to the top of the mountain, Zhang Yunzheng and others Unable to hold on any longer, I had no choice but to leave the valley mouth cliff, face the north wind, and climb the mountain to escape. After coughing and walking for half an hour, I returned to the completely fresh air.
Everyone fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Rose laughed: "It's done! We're done!" He fell to the ground, but after a while, he asked, "When shall we go back?"
Zhang Yunzheng frowned: "There is a lot of smoke over there, why are you going back?"
Rose said: "There is still a lot of wine left!"
Others also said, "Yes, there are more than two hundred cans left!"
"Yes, I heard that the wine in the wine jar is delicious, so I picked up the wooden one and threw it down first. Look at how smart I am..."
"You actually have selfishness?!"
"What selfishness?! Is it right? Look, I'm right, I have good wine to drink now!"
"It turned out that I was under the control of the young master and couldn't drink it. This time I want to drink enough!"
"Don't just drink it by yourself, I have to take it to drink with the people in the house, so I can show off..."
"That's right!"
Zhang Yunzheng coughed, and said, "Be cautious! In front of those people in the future, don't be too complacent..." But after speaking, he also grinned, thinking about how to go back to Beijing to brag to his beloved little liar How easy it is to complete this task without hurting anyone.
The people on the cliff can't breathe yet, but the people in the valley below know how painful it is.
He Duo coughed, got off the horse early, and crawled on the ground to avoid the thick smoke, barely panting. But the horse was tall, and it happened to be in the smoke. Even if it lay down, it couldn't escape the thick smoke. Surrounded by the wild neighing of frightened horses, He Duo crawled towards the mountain wall on all fours, avoiding the roaring horses along the way. He saw that some soldiers were fainted and suffocated by the smoke, and some fell to the ground and were trampled to death by horses and men. He Duo trembled with anger: He really regretted it to death! Really should let people kill those thieves in Taniguchi before entering the valley! Who would have thought that so few people would do such a bad thing!
He Duo finally climbed to the bottom of the cliff, all around him were sergeants, all of them were ashamed from the smoke. They dodged the hooves of the horses and crawled over the corpses of people and horses. When they were about to reach the mouth of the valley, a burst of extremely thick smoke rolled over. He Duo was dizzy for a while and almost fell to the ground. Before reaching the entrance of the valley, he followed the surviving soldiers and climbed up the stone pile with hands and feet. His palms were scratched by the sharp edges and corners of the stones, but he didn't care about these, and he stumbled to the side as soon as he got out of the valley. , far away from the black smoke spit out from the mouth of the valley.
When he finally stopped to catch his breath, He Duo looked up and found that the soldiers who escaped from the valley were running in twos and threes, all with their helmets and armor removed, coughing desperately. Someone came to report that before the cliff collapsed, the vanguard passed over 3,000 cavalry, but after the cliff collapsed, only a few hundred horses came out of the valley, and some of them were twisted when they crossed the gravel belt at the entrance of the valley. ankle.
He Duo was filled with grief and indignation, coupled with the experience of escaping from death just now, his legs trembled and he could only fall to the ground. He asked people to gather the remnant soldiers as soon as possible: the southerners set up this trap just to give the troops coming this way the upper hand, and he wanted to gather the troops as soon as possible.
The really thick black smoke actually only lasted for three hours, and then it turned into white smoke mixed with ashes, but it had already turned the valley into a valley of corpses with layers of dead people and horses. There were 130,000 to 40,000 soldiers in this army, but when He Duo asked people to count the soldiers who escaped from the valley, there were more than 70,000 soldiers left, only half of them. If you break your arm, or fall to your leg or something, there are only about 30,000 people who can fight.
Thirty thousand people! He Duo was going crazy with hatred. He had the guide who followed the vanguard out of the valley cut alive! Let him lead the army into the ambush circle!
Then, he considered whether to retreat.
He didn't want to walk this valley again. If he entered the valley, those people would set fire and smoke in it, and his soldiers would die. If you go to the north, you have to go around a long way. I don't know where this kind of ambush is in the mountains. It is actually very dangerous to retreat. There is no turning back when you open the bow. You must win the battle, otherwise you will die! Besides, the 30,000 people who can fight should not be underestimated! Those who can escape from the most dangerous environment are the elite among the elite. There was a plain in front of them. Although most of the horses had been lost, the soldiers of the Northern Army were brave and good at fighting. Even with 3,000 horses and 30,000 people, with the strength of one as ten, they could also deal with the mob that the opponent gathered temporarily. If he moves quickly and reaches the plains as soon as possible, he has a chance of winning! At that time, a message was sent to Tugu Khan to bring 200,000 people to the south to meet him, and the two armies would join up, and they could still go straight to Dragon City!
He Duo reorganized his troops and headed for the plain. What he is most worried about now is food and grass. There are not many villages around here, and even if there are, they are empty. He Duo let the wounded stay behind, and the combat troops moved forward. When they reached the plains, they arrived in a rich area, where there would be food and grass! Maybe they can take advantage of the opponent's time to fight and lay down a big city, that is to spend time and wine, and worry about lack of food
Marquis Pingyuan saw the thick smoke in the distant sky, and felt uncomfortable: he was still late! His son has already faced Bei Rong! Just as he was about to ask someone to inquire, someone suddenly reported that someone from Mr. Zhang's side had come. Marquis Pingyuan immediately asked the leader to come over, and asked anxiously, "Why are you here?! You are most needed over there!"
The man replied: "My son asked us to find the general. He said that he only needs a hundred people, and it will not work if there are too many."
Marquis Pingyuan lost his voice and said, "A hundred people?!"
Zhang Yunming came over and asked, "What hundred people?"
The man saluted Zhang Yunming: "My lord, you only need a hundred people, so let us come first..."
Zhang Yunming cursed angrily: "Hundred people?! Hundreds of thousands to Beirong?! That liar! I don't know what kind of ecstasy soup was poured into him?!..."
Ping Yuanhou asked: "Who?! What liar?!"
Zhang Yunming frowned and said: "It's the person who designed it, she... her mind is too secretive and vicious."
Marquis Pingyuan also locked his thick eyebrows tightly: "No matter how secretive you are, you can't use a hundred people to stop an army of hundreds of thousands! Is he trying to kill my son?!"
Zhang Yunming said: "Father, I made that person swear to live and die with my younger brother! If something happens to my younger brother, she will not even think about living!"
Ping Yuanhou was angry: "So what?! I want your brother to live!"
Furious, they ordered the army to speed up the process. After walking for a day, someone reported to Pingyuanhou that Lord Xiaoyao was coming, and Pingyuanhou hurriedly said, "Please!"
Unkempt and disheveled, Mr. Xiaoyao walked over with Zhang Ding and Yulan who were also in a mess. They came down from the other side of the mountain and walked out of the mountain. They took a shortcut and were only one day behind those who left earlier.
Duke Xiaoyao came over and saluted Marquis Pingyuan, Zhang Yunming asked anxiously, "Why are you here? How is my brother?"
Lord Xiaoyao scolded: "What kind of errand did that kid send me?! Almost killed me! What a bastard! It should be regarded as murdering a teacher!"
Ping Yuanhou asked, "Where is he now?"
Xiaoyaogong said: "Oh, he should still be in the mountains now..."
Ping Yuanhou was anxious: "Why didn't you bring him out?!"
Lord Xiaoyao laughed: "Look at you! You're so worried!" Seeing that Marquis Pingyuan's face was darkened, Lord Xiaoyao said, "Don't be afraid, that kid's life is hard! Let these two boys tell you, I'm I dare not say it, it's too scary!"
Marquis Pingyuan gestured to Zhang Ding, Zhang Ding held a wine jar, smiled flatteringly and bowed his waist and said, "Master Hou, it is my honor to report to you! You look younger than before..."
Zhang Yunming pushed him away and said to Yulan, "Speak!"
Yulan said bluntly: "Oh, my son asked me to paint red letters when I encounter the valley from the north, saying that Bei Rong will die if he enters the valley..."
Marquis Pingyuan was about to go crazy: "Tell me about the current situation!"
Yulan frowned: "Well, everything has a beginning, right? If you don't talk about the beginning, it's not like a story..."
Marquis Pingyuan gritted his teeth, Zhang Yunming said: "Okay, let me tell you first, is your young master still alive?"
Yulan nodded and said: "It should be, the smoke over there is so heavy that it chokes us all, Bei Rong shouldn't turn back..."
Zhang Yunming was rarely angry: "What should it be?! If you don't make it clear, I will beat you!"
Yulan was a little aggrieved: "This matter really needs to be discussed from the beginning. After I finish talking, do you think it's 'should be'?"
Pingyuan Houqi: "Say it, you brat!"
Yulan was happy, and said: "I painted all the way, of course I also wrote in the valley over there when I came back, and the young master said my handwriting was not good..." Seeing Pingyuanhou's eyes about to kill, Yulan said hurriedly: "Half a month ago, I went to Thousands of wine barrels and wine tanks have been moved to the cliff, and the wet wood, rotten grass and leaves under the cliff are almost piled up to the sky... "
"Wait!" Pingyuanhou shouted, Yulan stopped, Pingyuanhou looked at the smoke in the distance, thought for a moment, remembered that wine can burn, and laughed: "This kid!..." Then he said He let out a breath, smiled wryly and said, "It's really vicious."
Zhang Yunming also understood: "It's Smoke Attack!"
Xiaoyao Gong said: "He asked me to use gunpowder to blow up the valley entrance. The gravel piled up at the valley entrance. The horses could not run out and had to be led out. So many people were blocked in the valley. We are on the mountain at the downwind mouth. I can’t bear the smell of smoke, those horses are smoked, can I have it? In the valley, I’m afraid it’s going to be hell.”
Marquis Pingyuan was surprised: "Is there such a strong gunpowder?"
Mr. Xiaoyao had some lingering fears: "It's too strong, with a bang, the whole cliff fell down."
Marquis Pingyuan nodded and said: "In this way, they will lose their horses... Pass down the order to set up the camp and deploy defenses." He told Xiaoyaogong and others to rest, and Xiaoyaogong said to Zhang Ding who was holding the wine jar: "Hurry up! Now I can drink!"
Zhang Ding said: "I want to try it too! I hugged it all the way!"
Yulan said: "There's still me!"...
The three walked away, only Zhang Yunming was left beside Ping Yuanhou.
Zhang Yunming said in a low voice: "This is really a poisonous plan. In this way, the Northern Rong cavalry must have lost many horses..."
Ping Yuanhou also said in a low voice: "It seems that your younger brother is indeed not in danger of life, and Bei Rong will not go to that valley again after being killed. We only need to pay attention to the rear now..."
Zhang Yunming nodded: "They have already followed."
Ping Yuanhou said: "We can divide our forces now."
Zhang Yunming looked at Ping Yuanhou: "Father, don't you bring more of my people?"
Ping Yuanhou shook his head: "No, your task will be even heavier in the future."
While they were talking, the third prince hurried over and asked excitedly, "Master Hou, I heard that Bei Rong came out of the mountainous area over there?"
Marquis Ping Yuan pondered and said: "We haven't fully come out yet, we are going to meet them."
The third prince's eyes lit up: "That's great, I can't wait!"
Marquis Pingyuan shook his head and said: "Your Highness, our army cannot easily confront the opponent. The enemy's army is mighty, but remember that it will be exhausted after one vigorous effort..."
The third prince said excitedly: "He exhausts me so I can restrain him? I understand, I understand!"
Marquis Pingyuan nodded and said: "I want to fight against him, I just want to defend him and not fight, so let's delay him for a while."
The third prince clenched his fist and nodded, "Okay!"
Ping Yuanhou said again: "Our army has to separate some people and let the vanguard lead, so that there will be support in the future."
The third prince said: "I believe in the orders of the Marquis, and I will completely listen to the Marquis." He saluted and bid farewell to Marquis Pingyuan, winked at Zhang Yunming, and asked Zhang Yunming to go with him. He moved a little stiffly and took out a small bag from his arms and handed it to Zhang Yunming, and said awkwardly: "Well, this belongs to my sister. If I can't go back, you have to take care of her."
Zhang Yunming took the small bag, frowned slightly: "Why do I hear this sound familiar..." The third prince also said similar things during the hunt.
The third prince laughed loudly, punched Zhang Yunming, and said: "Girls are sentimental, if you say something like not living alone, don't get into trouble."
Zhang Yunming sighed secretly, smiled on the surface, put the small bag in his arms, and said very gracefully: "How can something happen? I dare not resign from His Highness's important mission."
The third prince laughed again, waved his hands and said, "Don't be so sulky, you are tanned darker than me, you don't look like a literati at all!"
Zhang Yunming also smiled, the two saluted, and the third prince left with high spirits.
Marquis Pingyuan said that he wanted to act conservatively, so he asked Zhang Yunming to lead 30,000 people, most of whom were his elite soldiers from the south, and he led the other soldiers to advance towards Beirong. His original marching route was diagonally facing the place where the Bei Rong would appear. With such a turn, it was like a straight line turning a corner. The Yulin army coming from behind, Zhang Yunming left in the middle and Ping Yuanhou in front formed a triangle.
The imperial forest army led by Cao Kai found out the movement of Pingyuanhou's main force, so he naturally followed them. After all, the emperor's order was Pingyuanhou's third prince, and he could not leave Pingyuanhou's commander-in-chief to chase other people.
Ping Yuanhou's brigade walked for two days, and met the army headed by three thousand cavalry from Beirong. However, as soon as the confrontation occurred, Marquis Pingyuan ordered people to withdraw quickly. The volunteer soldiers used chariots as camps and relied on the guard plates of the chariots to set up temporary protective fortifications to contain the impact of Beirong with strong crossbows. He Duo also didn't want the soldiers to go all out. Compared to the 100,000 horsemen he had before, he only had 3,000 now. He didn't want to waste it on attacking these grassroots camps.
His purpose was to get to the rich and prosperous land in the south as soon as possible, and he didn't want to entangle with these volunteer soldiers here. The opponent's bow and arrow are too lethal, and he is always a little bit tied. He tried to let the infantry attack the fortifications of these volunteers. The volunteers did not fight, but the dense crossbows could completely repel the attack and block the road. He Duo didn't want to sacrifice his soldiers, so he had to make a detour. He led the team away, and Marquis Pingyuan also rose up, marched in parallel to He Duo's direction, and blocked him again. He still only defended but did not attack, but he was not allowed to go south. .
After going back and forth like this for more than ten days, He Duo's army rations have long since run out, and he only relies on killing horses for food. If he doesn't rush into the plains, the soldiers will starve to death.
He Duo finally decided to make a strong attack, rushing through the rain of arrows at any cost, and headed south as soon as possible. Marquis Pingyuan also got the news: the imperial forest army from the capital was only a hundred miles away from the rear army.
Cao Kai felt that Marquis Pingyuan's volunteer soldiers had been fighting Bei Rong for so many days, and both sides must have suffered many casualties. During this period, he asked people to bring several letters to the capital, informing that Marquis Ping Yuan was at war with the enemy. He just didn't know that every letter after he signed it was torn apart privately by the clerk, and some important changes were made, such as the intentional blank left after the sentence "Ping Yuanhou and Bei Rong have been fighting for ten days" , the word "fiasco" was added.
Estimated that the fire was about to come, Cao Kai led his men straight to Pingyuanhou's retreat, thinking that if Pingyuanhou was defeated, he could take advantage of the situation to clean them up and complete the imperial order. If Marquis Pingyuan won, he had to take advantage of their slack when they won, and strike by surprise, don't wait for their entire team to return to the court, then it would be difficult. It's just that the mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole were behind him. He didn't know that Zhang Yunming was leading 30,000 people walking night and day, and they were also approaching his rear.
On the day of the decisive battle, it was a sunny day. When the sun was rising in the east, the cavalry of Beirong was the first to attack. Because the bows and arrows of the righteous soldiers were too powerful in the past, this time He Duo went all out, with three thousand cavalry at the head, ready to charge away the guards of the opponent, and thirty thousand people followed suit, don't love to fight, just go all the way south.
Although the Southerners were numerous, they had no cavalry at all. The three thousand cavalrymen of the Northern Rong came rushing forward with a bang, indeed looking menacing.