The defenses of these seven or eight rebel and bandit villages were even cruder than that of Chenqiao Village. All the former troops annihilated were skinny, old and weak rebels. Although the other generals were all arrogant and felt that if they continued along the way, they would be able to wipe out the tens of thousands of people gathered in Yulong Mountain, they were worried that their marching speed would be too slow and they would not be able to gain much credit. Chen Hai felt increasingly uneasy. .
More than a thousand Taoist soldiers have penetrated more than 200 miles into Yulong Mountain. Seven or eight bandit villages have been captured and burned together with the corpses of the annihilated rebels to prevent them from being used again.
There was no cover from dense shrubs on the stone cliff, but strangely, the three spiritual birds flying above, monitoring the left and right, did not notice the presence of the two men in black robes.
If the rebels had received the news earlier and were afraid of the power of the Taoist soldiers of the sect, and moved the main force to the depths of Yulong Mountain, there would be no need to leave hundreds of old, weak, sick and disabled to guard the outer stockade; and just March and April ago, the Yulong Mansion's five thousand troops The remaining soldiers and horses entered Yulong Mountain and were defeated. A large number of soldiers and armor should have been captured. Even if the rebels wanted to defend the surrounding villages, they should not only have extremely crude weapons such as bamboo spears and bamboo bows.
"Senior Brother Shen, is it possible that the former army captured Chenqiao Village so easily as a trick by the rebels to lure the enemy?" Chen Hai squatted in front of the river embankment, looking at the corpses on the river bed, and asked Shen Kun in confusion.
On a stone cliff not far from the Taoist soldiers stationed in the stone village, there was a person whose head and face were shrouded in black robes. He did not feel the heat at all. Only his two eyes were exposed, staring at the village ten miles away.
In terms of personal force alone, only the elite Taoist soldiers of the direct lineage of the General Protector's Mansion can compare with this sect's Taoist soldiers.
Fortunately, the front army opened the way, and the left guard did not worry about being harassed. Two days later, they caught up with the central army and the right guard and stationed themselves in a simple stone village.
It is located next to a river and a mountain, and the terrain is quite dangerous. It can be seen that the rural people who lived here before were quite powerful in Yulong Mansion.
The front army had already penetrated deep into Yulong Mountain from this stone gorge. After the Chinese army and the right guard army arrived at Chenqiao Village, they also went to the mountain to pursue the rebels three days ago. The order left behind was for the soldiers and horses of Yulong Mansion to guard Chenqiao. The village blocked the entrance for the rebels to exit the mountain from this stone gorge. The left guard army left their horses at Chenqiao Village, then entered the mountain with light equipment, and rushed over to join the central army and the right guard army to find and annihilate the rebels.
The two men in black robes did all this and fled into the distance along the rocky stream like ghosts; the three-headed spiritual birds flying high in the sky were still unable to capture their figures.
…
There are also many broken arrows inserted deeply into the stone wall, which shows how terrifying the strength of the archer is. There are also some simple bamboo and wood arrows scattered inside and outside the village wall, which must have been shot by random people while guarding the village.
Of course, Shen Kun and Ge Tong could hear Chen Hai's worries and doubts, but up to Baiwu Colonel Qi Siyu and above, they only regarded Chen Hai's doubts as a joke. In the eyes of the Taoist disciples, the Yulong City soldiers were not worthy of their support. The pustules used were defeated by the mob, which didn't mean anything at all.
"Unlike those decadent sects and clans in the mainland, Dong Liang, the mighty god of martial arts, has been governing the border with civilized virtues and martial arts over the years, which should not be underestimated. The Taiwei sect has not yet completely fallen. The divine religion has just emerged, and we are not allowed to slack off in the slightest. . We have mixed the Niling Powder given by Master Jijiu into the underground spring that these Tao soldiers drink. It is already a great achievement. The rest can be left to the rebels gathered in Huanglongyuan to solve..." That one The man in black robe warned his companions not to cause trouble, turned around like a sparrow, and slid silently into the ravine behind the stone cliff.
"Master Jiujiu is really a mastermind. These sect Taoist soldiers are so arrogant that they didn't notice at all and got into the pocket array set up by Master Jiujiu. We should be able to fight this time..." 1 A man in black robe lowered his voice and discussed in a low voice.
Yulong Mansion has more than a thousand soldiers, plus more than 2,000 strong civilians, and more than 3,000 soldiers and horses, but only a small number of horses.
After suffering such a disastrous defeat, the few thousand soldiers left in the local military equipment only dared to guard Yulongfu City, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
This spiritual vulture has been tamed by Li Xianghai for many years. In addition to the pills to strengthen the muscles and bones, he also eats at least two fat sheep every day.
…
There is a distance of two hundred miles from Yulong Fucheng to the foot of the northern slope of Yulong Mountain. In the middle is a large area of hills and valleys. There are two county towns and dotted villages, but most of them have been destroyed by the rebels; several villages close to the northern slope of Yulong Mountain The city is still in the hands of the rioters.
Chen Hai and the other three hundred Taoist disciples, then led by Li Xianghai and the three inner disciples Chen Qing, Xie Wenzhuo, and Lu Hongqian, entered the Shixia Gorge and marched towards the hinterland of Yulong Mountain.
It is also because of this that after Chen Hai followed the crowd into Yulong Mansion City, not only the Taoist disciples themselves were very proud, but the officials in the city also had strong confidence and expectations in them. In addition to vacating half of the alley's houses as barracks for the central army and the left and right guards, a large amount of beef and mutton were also sent to reward the army.
Chenqiaozhai was originally built by the villagers of Shanyin County. It is located on the north bank of a stream. The village is not big, with only about a hundred houses in it, but Shi Che's wall is five or six meters high.
Although there are still more than a thousand warriors in the Yulong Mansion Army, they are all uneven and cannot be compared with Chen Hai and his group of sect Taoist soldiers.
On the river bed and along the river, there are some stone axes, bamboo spears, bamboo spears, and bamboo bows scattered on the ground. They must have been abandoned by the chaos. The previous sect Taoist soldiers did not bother to pick up these simple weapons.
Although this ferocious spiritual eagle cannot be compared with the blue-scaled thunder eagle of Splashing Cloud Cliff, it is still envious in the eyes of countless Taoist disciples.
Accompanying the uneven local armed forces of Yulong Mansion, Chen Hai and the others waited until nightfall on the fifth day before arriving at Chenqiao Village at the foot of the northern slope of Yulong Mountain and stationed there.
There was an inconspicuous slender iron pipe among a pile of cobblestones. A man in black robe squatted over and listened to the sound of water gurgling from the iron pipe. He took out a black pottery bottle from his arms and put it in The whole bottle of slightly fishy medicinal powder was poured in.
The stream in front of Chenqiao Village also revealed a dry and cracked riverbed.
Shen Kun had been with Chen Hai for so long and knew what he was worried about when he asked, so he could only shrug and smile.
Two large gaps of more than ten meters were opened on the north side of the village wall. I don't know if it was caused by masters of the Mingqiao Realm using mystical techniques. The scattered remaining stones were as small as corn, which was obviously not something ordinary disciples of the Spiritual Realm could do; The remaining stone walls were stained with several layers of blood, indicating that there had been several fierce bloody battles here.
In addition, although the sect's Taoist soldiers conquered nearly ten bandit villages one after another, they were able to annihilate less than 2,000 enemies, which was far from injuring the bones of the rebels. More importantly, the rebels had previously defeated the Yulong City government army of 5,000 soldiers and horses, nearly Total annihilation does not look like a mob.
The Chinese army, composed of inner disciples, did not want to go with the slow-moving local troops and horses of Yulong Mansion, so they led the right guard army and set off early the next day; leaving the left guard army to go with the mixed soldiers and horses of Yulong Mansion.
Early the next day, the vulture raised by Li Xianghai spread its wings from Chenqiao Village and flew into the blue sky, staring sharply at every plant and tree within a hundred miles.
With this spiritual vulture, the left guard army does not even need to send out scouts or outposts, and the communication with the central army, right guard army and front army is also extremely convenient.
The ravine behind the stone cliff was originally a rocky stream. During the severe drought, the water has long since disappeared, exposing the rocky beach on the river bed.
Unlike the Taiwei Mountains, which are densely forested and full of aura, Yulong Mountain stretches for more than a thousand miles, but is mostly barren mountains and stone ridges. The few sparse vegetation has withered due to the severe drought that has lasted for several years. Looking far into the distance, you can see There were several pillars of thick black smoke rising from the mountains. They should be the results of the battles left by the front army, the middle army, and the right guard army after they destroyed the rebel and bandit villages.
This spiritual vulture stands taller than a calf on the ground. Its iron feathers are like arrows and its sharp claws are as strong as cast iron. It emits a biting cold light and can crush a century-old poplar tree into pieces in an instant. Among the deacons and teachers in the courtyard who have entered the spiritual realm, few are the rivals of this ferocious spirit vulture.
Although the prefecture and county soldiers and horse captains are served by veteran military attaches who retired from the Wuwei Army, and their cultivation is not too weak, the archers below can only recruit warriors from the local area, and they are uneven.
Entering the stone gorge in the hinterland of Yulong Mountain, the terrain can only be said to be relatively easy, but there are no ready-made roads. Only the black-scaled horse level spirit riders can pass quickly. The ordinary mounts that Chen Hai and the others brought from the Taoist Academy, There is no way to go into the mountains to fight, so they can only stay in Chenqiao Village.
Along the way, good news of the former army's attack on the camp and the evacuation of the stronghold came back one after another. Chen Qing, Xie Wenzhuo, and Lu Hongqian were all worried that their credit would be taken away by others. They fell behind and only reaped the benefits of the finishing touches. They pushed all the way. The left guard generals accelerated their advance.
"Hmph!" Chen Qing, who was looking at Yulong Mountain a hundred steps away, heard a contemptuous snort at this time. Apparently, even from such a distance, she still heard the whispered conversation between Chen Hai and Shen Kun. .
After a large-scale civil unrest broke out in Yulong Mansion, the government army also transferred manpower from small and medium-sized families to replenish their weapons. At one time, it expanded to more than 5,000 people who marched into Yulong Mountain to suppress the Yulong Mountain. However, they returned with a disastrous defeat. The soldiers and horses of the Yulong Mansion were masters who had cultivated to the late stage of the Spiritual Realm. , In the end, he only led more than a hundred people to escape back to Yulongfu City.
Prefectures and counties are equipped with a small amount of local armaments. Since the weapons are mainly ordinary swords and bows, they are mainly used to maintain local security.
There is a stone bridge in front of the village, crossing the river through the stone bridge. Even if you officially enter Yulong Mountain, there is a deep stone gorge leading to the hinterland of Yulong Mountain. The peaks on both sides of the stone gorge are steep and the cliffs are steep, making it difficult to climb.
There were two to three hundred corpses lying here and there, in ragged clothes and skinny bones. They should all be the rebels who had previously occupied Chen Qiaohan and were annihilated by the former military Taoist disciples.
Ge Tong and Shen Kun went to the big tent to attend a military meeting. After they returned, Chen Hai learned that they would join the Yulong City army to march to the foot of the northern slope of Yulong Mountain, and then enter the mountainous area to clear out the rebels.
…
According to the laws and regulations drawn up by the General Protector's Office, the local military equipment of Yulong Mansion always has a strength of two thousand soldiers. The soldiers and horse captains in prefectures and counties are all selected by military attaches and veterans who have retired from the Wuwei Army. If Ge Tong, Shen Kun and others make new breakthroughs in their cultivation, it would be a good job to serve as military commanders in prefectures and counties to reorganize local military equipment.
Not to mention the inner sect disciples whose cultivation bases were mostly at the Spiritual Realm, most of the thousand Taoist disciples drawn from the three Taoist academies were also at the Tongxuan realm or above.
Shixi is actually connected to the underground spring of Shizhai. The men in black robes have long expected that the main force of Taoist soldiers from Taiwei Sect to suppress Yulong Mountain. After conquering several villages in succession, they will most likely choose this place. Shizhai is resting. Now they only need to mix the potion of Niluoxuanxiu Linghai Zhenyuan into the drinking water source of the Taoist disciples through the hidden waterway connected by Shixi and the ground spring, and everything is ready...