The most likely possibility is that the rebels have realized that their troops are "unusual".
Fan Cheng saw that Chen Hai had led only two thousand soldiers and horses of the 1st and 2nd battle battalions to rush outside the gorge mouth first. He hoped to rest temporarily on the relatively gentle slope outside the gorge mouth until all the elites of the 9th battle battalion had advanced to the gorge. In front of the valley entrance, we launched a determined offensive against the rebels.
Fan Cheng, surrounded by several guards, galloped up the mountain crest to meet Chen Hai, pointing to the mouth of the gorge several miles away and said.
The rebels already knew that small groups of harassment could not slow down the advance of Chen Hai's troops, so they formally organized their troops to fight out from the mountains on both sides and rushed to the front of Chen Hai and others to occupy the Zuojin Valley. At this time, they had taken advantage of the dangerous entrance of the southern end of the valley. They prepared their troops on the terrain to prevent Chen Hai and others from entering Zuojin Valley.
Chen Hai remained silent. Logically speaking, the rebels should put them into the "pocket" so that more of the Xiyuan Army's main force could be captured in one fell swoop, instead of exposing their traces and hurriedly deploying troops to kill them. Block out Zuojin Valley.
Chen Hai couldn't wait until Zhao Rong and Tu Ziji came from behind to join him. Even if it were delayed for an hour, the battle situation would change differently. Moreover, when the rebels were fully assembled from the two flanks of the mountains, even if they could capture Zuojin Valley, There will also be a heavy price to pay, and by then the significance of occupying Zuojin Valley may have been lost.
How can this be
After the people's bravery was formally organized and trained, in addition to transferring two veteran generals and hundreds of veterans from the seventh capital, Chen Hai also first equipped them with thousands of sets of soldiers' armor stored in the armor shop. Later, Dong Pan also sent them There were thousands of sets of soldiers and armor. When Ge Tong, Ding Shuang, and Cao Shan led this group of civilian warriors to Qintong Pass, Fan Chun made up for the remaining missing soldiers and armor.
"Captain Chen, the rebels seem to pay special attention to us!"
On the sixth day, Chen Hai led his troops to advance to the outskirts of Zuojin Valley. As many as a thousand Hexi horses died from exhaustion on the way, and countless baggage vehicles were damaged.
And if they are blocked from Tongbei Prefecture, the rebels will not only be able to eat up all the 50,000 main Xiyuan Army troops, but also capture a county in Tongbei Prefecture, which will increase the strength of the rebels.
At this time, Ge Tong, Ding Shuang, Cao Shan and others led the first batch of 5,000 civilian warriors and rushed to Nanzhang Mansion to join Chen Hai.
In Wei Yuqi's view, although the main force of 50,000 Xiyuan Army is enough to defeat the rebels, if the rebels disperse and flee into the deep mountains and old forests of Qintong Mountain, they want to expand the results, and the more soldiers and horses they chase will naturally be The better.
These small groups of rebels were too weak to pose any effective threat to Chen Hai and the others, but they rushed out of the mountains like moths to a flame, with the intention of slowing down Chen Hai and the others' northward advance.
More civilian warriors will arrive in the future, but Chen Hai has no time to wait any longer. He ordered Fan Chun's son Fan Cheng to lead the Fan family's 500 elite guards as the vanguard to clear the way. He led the Seventh Capital's 10,000 Yu Han died in the central army.
At this time, Wei Yuqi led the main force of the Xiyuan Army, which had passed through Tongbei Prefecture and entered the mountains to the north to pursue the main force of the rebels. Even so, the distance between Chen Hai's troops and the main force of the Xiyuan Army was only 400 miles.
Seeing Chen Hai deep in thought, Fan Cheng asked again: "What are we going to do next?"
Chen Hai, surrounded by Sun Buhui, Mannu Tiekun and others, drove his horse forward and galloped up a mountain ridge. He saw that the southern end of Zuojin Valley was less than a thousand steps wide at the mouth of the valley. The mountains on both sides were a thousand feet high, with high The cliff locks towards the mouth of the valley, like a natural portal standing guard at the southern end of Tongbei Mansion.
Chen Hai directly ordered Fan Cheng to lead the elite troops of the Fan tribe to attack from the relatively flat Xiling on the left.
At this time, not only were 20,000 to 30,000 rebel soldiers piled up at the narrow entrance of the valley, setting up a large number of obstacles, but there were also numerous human figures on the high cliffs sloping toward the entrance of the valley from the mountains on both sides.
The rebels seemed to be aware of the great threat posed by Chen Hai's troops. From the first day Chen Hai and the others left Nanzhang Mansion and headed north, small groups of rebels continued to attack and harass them from both sides of Cha Valley.
Wei Yuqi dared to lead his lone army to directly insert here, knowing that in Tongbei Prefecture he could not only obtain food and grass supplies, but also recruit local military equipment and civilian courage to fight with the army.
There is a high cliff on that mountain ridge that reaches directly to the valley entrance, like a giant tiger with its mouth wide open to swallow the blood of the sky, mercilessly devouring all the humans and beasts who enter the Zuojin Valley.
Fortunately, Fan Cheng led the vanguard to move faster. Like a sudden storm, the rebels were caught off guard. Only a small group of soldiers and horses were lurking in the mountains on both sides, and they had no ability to destroy the path that Chen Hai and others passed.
Passing through Zuojin Valley is the largest mountain basin in the deep mountains at the northern foot of Qintong Mountain.
Obviously the rebels did not expect that their advance would be so fast, and they were seizing every minute and every second to gather troops in Zuojin Valley—
In Qintong Mountain, the population of Tongbei is the most prosperous, and the villages are densely packed. Dayan established Tongbei Prefecture here, with 17 counties under it. It was plagued by bandits and bandits all year round, and the local armed forces and clan warriors were relatively strong.
The mountains on both sides are like halberds and swords, piercing the sky. The figures of rebel sentries can be seen piercing the dense forests of the mountains at any time.
Following Chen Hai's order, Ge Tong had already incorporated the hundreds of guards left in Taohuawu into this group of civilian warriors. Even though the combat effectiveness of this group of civilian warriors is still very limited, they are sure to follow Chen Hai's orders and enter the battlefield resolutely when necessary.
No matter how powerful the refugee rebels are, they cannot capture all seventeen counties in Tongbei in such a short period of time.
Of course, these civilian warriors were recruited directly from the mines, quarries, and lumberyards opened in the northern part of Taohuawu. Not only were they highly disciplined, Cao Feng and Cao Shan's father and son had also taught martial arts among them for a long time. Skills, foundation is not bad.
While he personally urged the main army to continuously push forward to attack the city and erect the stronghold, he also officially ordered Chen Hai to lead his troops from Nanzhang Mansion to the north and join them to make up for the lack of troops in the front.
With the arrival of a large number of chariots and horses, Chen Hai and his companions moved north much faster.
Thirty or forty spiritual birds monitor every plant and tree on the two flanks of the mountains day and night. More than 15,000 generals are resolutely advancing northward. Every day, the main force of the Xiyuan Army led by Wei Yuqi will pull out. A distance of nearly two to three hundred miles.
It was confirmed that the main force of the rebels was in the Tongbei Mountains, and it was even possible that the Tongbei Mountains had been their home base for several years. Wei Yuqi, who still knew nothing about the Red Eyebrow Sect, naturally believed that the final victory was just around the corner.
Chen Hai led his troops first, while Fan Chun, who stayed in Qintongguan, tried his best to overcome various difficulties and continuously transported the carriages and horses to the canyon west of Qintongguan. When Ge Tong, Ding Shuang, and Cao Shan led the Taohuawu soldiers A group of civilians rushed to Qintong Pass to gather in order to use this group of carriages and horses to travel. They arrived at Nanzhang Mansion four days later than Chen Hai and the others.
They occupied Zuojin Valley and controlled the key passes in and out of Tongbei Prefecture. After receiving the remnants of the Xiyuan Army and their defeat, they further integrated the prefecture and county military equipment and township people's bravery that had not fallen. It was possible to form a confrontation with the rebels in a short time. If time continues to delay, the situation will inevitably tilt to their side.
At this time, there were one or two thousand rebel soldiers crowded on the high cliff. Throwing stones and wood could directly threaten the soldiers and horses attacking the valley entrance. Chen Hai asked Fan Cheng to lead his troops to defeat the more than a thousand rebel soldiers...
The more small moves the rebels made, the more they could see that the long-planned decisive battle between the Red Eyebrow Cultists and the rebels in the Tongbei Mountains was about to begin. Chen Hai became more determined and undisturbed by the small group of harassing rebels, pushing forward The army marched north at full speed.
There are millions of refugee rebels, and it is true that they are still a mob at this time. However, they have been tempered by brutal wars and can obtain sufficient supplies for rest and reorganization in Tongbei Mansion, allowing more elite members of the Red Eyebrow Sect to be better integrated. , it may only take three to five months to integrate into the rebel army, and this rebel army will become elite and become a thorn in the heart of the Great Yan Empire that is difficult to eradicate.
More than 10,000 generals of the Seventh Capital have been practicing in Fujiao Ridge for most of the year. Even the other generals of the Xiyuan Army who were also training in Xiyuan would never think that the Seventh Capital's combat power could be stronger than theirs. Why did they rebel? Will the military pay special attention to them
"You will lead your troops to attack Xiling at this time."
Chen Hai was determined to lead his troops to capture Zuojin Valley. A big factor was that he valued the potential of Tongbei Prefecture to the north of Zuojin Valley.
Chen Hai took the lead in the first and second battle camps. They first reorganized their formation on a grassy slope outside Zuojin Valley, seizing the time to chew on dried meat, and each person also took an extra Jingyuan Pill to replenish qi and blood.
Ahead is Zuojin Valley.
Fan Cheng led the vanguard to arrive outside Zuojin Valley first, and tried to lead his troops to directly attack the rebels at the mouth of the valley. However, before he could get close to the mouth of the valley, falling rocks and trees continued to fall from the dangerous mountains and high banks on both sides. The sound was like thunder, and he was forced to retreat. After returning, we now stood guard outside the gorge mouth to alert the enemy.
At this time, Chen Hai had entered the mountainous area at the northern foot of the Qintong Mountains, and the gorge became increasingly dangerous and narrow.
He didn't know why the rebels paid special attention to them, and he didn't know how the rebels knew the details of the Seventh Capital General. But one thing he was sure of was that the rebels' response in Zuojin Valley was also extremely hasty at this time. Opportunities to hit fast.
At the same time, Chen Hai organized more than 40 elite disciples of Hexi Taiwei Sect such as Cen Yunfei and Chen Qing into reserves together with 5,000 civilian warriors. As a reserve force, he followed the main force and marched northward.
The basin is officially called the Tongbei Mountains. Although there are crisscrossing mountains all over the basin, compared with the surrounding mountains and ridges, the Tongbei Mountains, which spans three hundred miles, has a much gentler terrain, with rivers and lakes crisscrossing it. , the climate is warm and humid, which is also conducive to farming and nourishing the population.
For Min Yong, who had only been formally trained for half a month, this marching speed was already considered fast enough.
The Seventh Capital advanced rapidly to the north, and the Ninth Battle Battalion formed a long dragon on the gorge that was more than thirty miles long. At the same time, they had to guard against arrows and stones coming from the mountains on both sides, so the formation was somewhat loose.
At this time, Chen Haicai led two battalions of generals to form a formation at the mouth of the valley. They were still unable to catch their breath. Logically speaking, it would be safer to wait until all the ten thousand soldiers of the Seventh Capital entered the gentle slope to adjust their formation before considering attacking. However, The spirit bird flying into the blue sky could see a large number of bandit soldiers wrapped in black turbans quickly gathering at the mouth of Zuojin Valley in the mountains on both sides.