The carriage suddenly shook violently, and Jiang Yanyi grabbed the window sill in time. Huo Jianjia stretched out a hand and pressed her shoulder, so Jiang Yanyi was able to stabilize her body.
Chenyu was not so lucky. Her head hit the car wall hard, but she didn't care about the pain and quickly protected Jiang Yanyi.
Bing Shao's voice came from outside the car: "A group of light cavalry is coming, Yang Xiu went to meet the enemy, Jianjia, you protect the master."
Huo Jianjia responded quickly: "Leave it to me!"
The enemy won't come so quickly, this light cavalry is most likely a traitor.
Jiang Yanyi immediately said: "Let's get off the carriage!"
The news of her being in the military camp must have reached the ears of the allies tonight. Now she is leaving in a carriage, which is tantamount to telling others that she is in the carriage. If the enemy shoots arrows, they will probably be shot into sieves.
Huo Jianjia protected Jiang Yanyi as they got off the carriage. They were all wearing ordinary soldiers' uniforms, and in the dark night, they blended into the crowd and could not be recognized in an instant.
Jiang Yanyi and her companions hid behind a grain cart. When she looked back, she saw that the carriage she had been riding in had been shot into a sieve by arrows.
The enemy was in the dark, while they were in the light. From time to time, they shot arrows from nowhere, making the soldiers panic.
Jiang Yanyi said worriedly, "This is not a solution. We need to knock down the opponent's archers first."
Huo Jianjia seemed to be thinking about what she heard. She closed her eyes amidst the noise and listened attentively to the sound of the bowstring being tightened and loosened, so as to identify the position of the archers. "Four in the southeast, five in the south..."
Just then, Bing Shao saw the carriage being shot down and came over worried that Jiang Yanyi was injured.
Huo Jianjia stopped him and said, "You stay here to protect the boss. I'll go and deal with those archers!"
After saying this, without waiting for Bing Shao to respond, he carried his own sword on his back and rushed into the chaotic and noisy night.
As Huo Jianjia ran, she glanced at the moon in the sky and muttered, "It would be better if the moon was a little darker."
Her sword was as shiny as snow, and its reflection in the moonlight made it easy for the other party to notice it.
Perhaps God was helping her at this moment, as a dark cloud just covered the round moon that looked like a jade plate.
Huo Jianjia was so excited that she almost jumped up. As she ran, she put her hands at her sides in the shape of a sword that could break the wind. When she was about to reach her destination, the archers had not yet reacted to someone approaching. She stretched her hand behind her, pulled out the machete and started slashing horizontally and vertically. Suddenly, the whole forest was filled with muffled groans and the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
She was like an agile leopard. After chopping on one side, she shook off the blood on the knife and jumped to the other side in an instant.
When the dark clouds that obscured the moon dispersed, all that was left of the archers hiding in the woods were their corpses.
The general leading the raiding light cavalry looked like a tough guy. Yang Xiu barely fought with him for a few moves but was defeated.
Seeing Yang Xiu being thrown to the ground and the general aiming his spear at Yang Xiu's throat, a skinny dwarf suddenly jumped out from the side, holding a broken knife in his hand, and directly cut off the long tasseled spear in the general's hand.
The general riding on the horse was so shocked by the force that his palms were numb. He looked at his weapon that was smoothly cut off, and then looked at Huo Jianjia who appeared halfway. He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
The main reason was that Huo Jianjia was small to begin with, and the smallest size military uniform in the barracks was tailored for men's bodies. It was ridiculously large for her, and when she let her hands hang down, the sleeves would drag directly to her knees.
Although Huo Jianjia had tied up her cuffs and ankles with cloth tape, she still looked like a kid in a troupe who had stolen someone else's costume.
What's more, the boy had extraordinary strength, and the general felt like he had run into some kind of monster.
He shouted loudly, threw away the spear with the tip cut off in his hand, pulled out the double maces hanging on the saddle, and rode his horse towards Huo Jianjia.
Huo Jianjia dodged the warhorse with a nimble move, and the general was left alone.
He saw that Huo Jianjia was agile, so he turned his horse around and rushed towards him again, bending down and trying to sweep Huo Jianjia away with his mace. Huo Jianjia relied on her short stature and did not move a step. When the mace swung over, she just leaned back and dodged it easily.
On the contrary, the general was very annoyed because he couldn't hit anyone several times. He said, "Damn, where did this little dwarf come from? What's the point of just hiding? If you dare, fight your grandfather with force."
The soldier's hat that Huo Jianjia was wearing was too big and didn't fit her head. She leaned back and almost knocked the hat off.
Faced with the shouting and cursing, she expressionlessly stuck her broken knife into the ground, put her hat back on with both hands, and then picked up the knife again.
The general had never been looked down upon like this in his life. He was so angry that his teeth were itching. He shouted "I'll kill you" and rushed towards Huo Jianjia to kill her.
Huo Jianjia originally wanted to chop the horse's legs, but seeing that it was a Ferghana horse, he changed direction halfway through swinging his knife, and asked Yang Xiu, who was killing the enemy on the other side, "Yang Xiu, Yang Xiu, can I keep the warhorse I stole from this grandson after I killed him?"
Yang Xiu chopped down a soldier, his clothes and face were covered in blood. He gasped and said, "Kill this bastard and I'll give you ten horses!"
Huo Jianjia's eyes suddenly lit up.
The general, who had once again launched an attack but failed, was still angry, but when he turned around and saw Huo Jianjia's eyes with a green glow, he felt a chill down his spine for no reason.
This time, Huo Jianjia didn't wait for him to attack, but ran over with the big knife on her shoulder: "Get off my horse, don't touch my horse!"
The general didn't have time to react. When he passed by Huo Jianjia on his horse, he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and saw that blood was already gushing out of his leg.
With one of his legs injured and unable to maintain his balance, the general screamed and fell off his horse.
Huo Jianjia was also a strange person. She was afraid that her newly acquired Ferghana horse would be accidentally injured during the fighting between the two armies. Seeing that the general had difficulty getting up, she led the Ferghana horse to the woods nearby, tied up the horse and ran back.
The general had fought for many years and had never suffered such an insult. His face turned green for a moment.
When Huo Jianjia came back happily, he finally stood up with difficulty, leaning on his double maces, pointed at Huo Jianjia and said with gritted teeth: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated!"
Huo Jianjia thought about the rules of martial arts, put his sword aside, and said sincerely: "I am a man. Since you are injured, I will not fight you without weapons. Come, I will let you have three moves!"
General: “…”
Why are they becoming even more insulting
This is intolerable!
He shouted and rushed over with his two maces.
The general was injured and moved slowly. Huo Jianjia dodged while counting: "One move."
“Two moves.”
“Three moves.”
"It's my turn!" Huo Jianjia yelled this and got into position to fight, but before he could even attack, the general vomited blood and staggered to the ground.
Huo Jianjia was stunned when she saw the arrow that had shot into the general's body, and then she looked at Xiao Han who came on horseback to support her.
Xiao Han didn't realize that he had taken a head, and thought that he had just saved a soldier who was being chased and beaten. Seeing Huo Jianjia's height, he frowned and said, "How old are you? Which camp are you from? War is not a joke, children, don't come and make trouble!"
Without waiting for Huo Jianjia to reply, he ordered his deputy general: "Check carefully later, and all those who are under the age of sixteen will be assigned to the Fire Head Battalion."
Huo Jianjia didn't reply, but her face showed displeasure.
She straightened her soldier's hat which had been tilted askew during the fight. Because the hat was too big, the brim almost covered her eyes, so she had to push the hat back. She looked quite funny, and with her notched sword that was almost as tall as herself, she looked like a little kid from some village wearing a soldier's uniform and looking very proud.
Seeing Huo Jianjia rushing into the crowd again with a big knife, Xiao Han frowned. He was about to go over to save her, but after seeing how Huo Jianjia chopped her like cutting a watermelon, Xiao Han fell silent.
It is true... You can't judge a book by its cover.
The leading general of the raiding cavalry had died, and with the support of Xiao Han, the situation was quickly stabilized.
Not a single cart of food and medicinal materials was missing, and Jiang Yanyi was not hurt at all, so Xiao Han breathed a sigh of relief.
While the soldiers were resting, Xiao Han went to see Jiang Yanyi, "The enemy troops on Hengling have been completely taken down, and the traitor has been caught. The Hengzhou camp is now safe."
This was considered a great victory. Jiang Yanyi was pleasantly surprised, but he was most concerned about Feng Shuo: "Where is the prince?"
Based on her understanding of Feng Shuo, as long as Feng Shuo was not injured, he would come in person. Thinking of this, her heart, which had just calmed down, couldn't help but rise again.
Xiao Han said, "Your Highness has used the trick to counter the enemy. He has his elite troops change into Minghan army uniforms and disguise themselves as the army that attacked tonight. They have returned to the Minghan army camp. General Han is waiting in the dark with 50,000 troops. When the time comes, we will cooperate with the outside forces. If nothing unexpected happens, this battle will seriously injure the Minghan army."
The morale of the soldiers has been boosted, but they still need to win a tough battle to completely stabilize the military's morale and at the same time stabilize the people's hearts.
If Feng Shuo wins this battle, he will have won half the game.
Jiang Yanyi asked: "Who is the traitor?"
Xiao Han said with a gloomy face, "It was that Xibo Hou who was secretly in cahoots with Prince Xinyang. Prince Xinyang went to the capital to seize the throne, and was afraid that the prince would withdraw troops to encircle and suppress him, so he colluded with Minghan Kingdom, hoping to use Minghan Kingdom to contain the prince."
"Has there been any news from the capital?" Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but worry about Chu Changping's safety.
Xiao Han shook his head. Seeing Jiang Yanyi frowning, he comforted her again: "When the prince sent the letter earlier, he also sent an urgent report to Yuzhou. If General Chu knew that there was a change in the capital, he would immediately lead his troops north to support General Chu."
*****
Capital city.
It was the middle of the night, in the complete silence, neatly dressed soldiers tiptoed out of their tents and quietly approached another military tent in the distance.
Prince Xinyang led a large army to the capital yesterday, saying that he was ordered by Feng Shuo to come and besiege the capital together with Chu Changping.
The urgent reports sent to the capital were robbed on the way by Prince Xinyang's men. Chu Changping had no idea that his trip was a fraud, but he still felt it was strange that Prince Xinyang, as a vassal king, was the only one going to the capital.
Chu Changping was very cautious. On the day when Prince Xinyang arrived in the capital, he sent scouts to inquire about the situation in the south. When Prince Xinyang proposed to camp near the Chu army camp, Chu Changping refused without a second thought.
Although King Xinyang was one of Feng Shuo's allies, Chu Changping did not dare to directly entrust the back of his army to such an "ally" with whom he had never dealt before.
Prince Xinyang is an old fox. He has seen Chu Changping's vigilance, but he also knows that he cannot delay any longer. If Chu Changping knows the real purpose of his trip, he will have to fight a tough battle with Chu Changping before taking over the capital. So he decided to take action that night.
If you want to get close to the Chu army's camp, you must first get rid of the sentry on the watchtower.
King Xinyang sent out a few soldiers to deliberately make a noise to attract the sentry's attention, which allowed the archer to approach secretly. When he reached the shooting range, he shot the sentry to death with an arrow. Then the rest of the large force swarmed towards the Chu army camp.
Compared to the luck of the Hengzhou camp, the Chu army camp did not know about the enemy attack in advance, and it was late at night, and the soldiers were sleeping soundly.
It would be more accurate to describe this battle as a one-sided massacre. Many Chu soldiers had their throats cut in their sleep. Even those who woke up with a startled voice were covered with their mouths and stabbed several times before they could even utter a sound.
***
In the dark night, Chu Yangui suddenly opened his eyes and almost sat up, breathing heavily and with cold sweat on his forehead.
He dreamed of Mrs. Jiang again.
The rain of arrows, the snow stained red with blood, the slowly closing city gate...
After catching his breath for a while, he looked at the wheelchair not far away. He supported himself on the edge of the bed with one hand and held on to the square table in front of the bed with the other. He gritted his teeth and stood up, then walked towards the wheelchair step by step with difficulty but determination.
He can now stand and take a few steps on his own, but he can't do it for too long.
This is a secret that even Chu Zhong doesn't know.
After sitting in the wheelchair, Chu Yangui went to the table and poured himself a cup of cold tea. After drinking the tea, he no longer felt sleepy at all.
He pushed his wheelchair outside to get some cool breeze, but as soon as he left the tent he smelled a strong smell of blood in the wind.
Chu Yangui's expression changed. Just as he was about to push his wheelchair to the side tent to call Chu Zhong, a soldier of King Xinyang raised his knife and slashed at him.
Chu Yangui pulled out the soft sword he often used for sword practice from the secret compartment of his wheelchair, killed the soldier with one sword, and shouted, "Uncle Zhong!"
Chu Zhong, who was sleeping in the side tent, heard Chu Yan's shouting and came out wearing only a single piece of clothing with a sword in hand. When he smelled the strong smell of blood in the air, he realized that something was wrong.
Chu Yangui's voice attracted the attention of all the men under King Xinyang, and many soldiers surrounded him.
Chu Zhong killed his way forward, squatted down and motioned Chu Yangui to get on his back: "Master, I will take you to a safe place first."
Chu Yangui pushed Chu Zhong and said, "Uncle Zhong, don't worry about me. Go to the sentry tower and find the horn to sound the alarm!"
The army uses horn sounds as orders. Each watchtower is equipped with a horn. If there is an enemy, the sentry at the watchtower will blow the horn immediately, and all soldiers will be on alert immediately when they hear the horn.
Although Chu Zhong is now Chu Yangui's close follower, he followed Chu Changping in his early years and was loyal to Chu Changping. He knew that if things went wrong tonight, Chu Changping's entire army might be wiped out, so he gritted his teeth and brought Chu Yangui to a relatively safe place, then rushed to the sentry tower.
Chu Yangui sat in a wheelchair, struggling to fend off the soldiers attacking from all directions, while shouting, "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The Chu soldiers in the nearby tents who heard his shout had no time to put on their armor and rushed out with their weapons to fight the enemy. They were completely unprepared and could not gain any advantage at all in the hands of the King of Xinyang's soldiers who were blinded by killing.
Chu Yangui had difficulty walking, so while he was swinging his sword with one hand, he had to use the other hand to control the wheelchair. The rubble and corpses on the ground blocked the way, making the wheelchair very clumsy to move. In the end, he simply abandoned the wheelchair, endured the severe pain in his kneecap like broken porcelain pieces, stood up, and fought with the soldiers.
“Woo—”
“Woo—”
When the horn sounded, the Chu army camp behind him was suddenly awakened like a sleeping beast, and the two armies fought each other in a complete chaos.
The stinging pain in his knee made Chu Yangui's eyes go dark. There was clearly a sword chopping towards him in front of him, but he seemed to see Madam Jiang, and he was a beat slower. When he dodged, the sword still hit his shoulder.
"Yan Gui!" Chu Changping rode over and chopped off the heads of three or four soldiers with a swipe of his sword. He then pulled Chu Yangui onto the horse's back.
Chu Yangui's entire collar was stained with blood, some of it his own and others'. Chu Changping didn't know where he was injured for a moment. The knuckles of his fingers holding the reins turned white. He tried to tighten his voice and said, "Hold on, I'll take you to see a military doctor."
Chu Yangui covered his bleeding shoulder and said with a painful look, "Uncle, I'm fine. You can take the rest of the soldiers and retreat first."
The King of Xinyang is a mad dog. His surprise attack in the middle of the night threw the Chu army into chaos. The only solution now is to withdraw the troops and preserve their strength.
Chu Changping also knew that the army's morale was broken and that they could not fight the King of Xinyang head-on. He quickly ordered his subordinates: "Pass my order, all soldiers retreat to the direction of Dayangou!"
"Song Qi, go light up all the fireworks that weren't set off last night! Warn the people in the capital! Li Yun, you lead three thousand troops to cover the rear!"
They were all caught off guard tonight. After they withdraw their troops, Prince Xinyang will immediately attack the city, and the royal garrison stationed in the capital will be even more caught off guard.
"I obey your orders!"
The two generals named by Chu Changping took their troops and deployed separately.
After Chu Zhong came over, Chu Changping handed Chu Yangui over to Chu Zhong and rushed back to command the battle.
***
It was not until dawn that the Chu army retreated to a safe place. More than half of the original 20,000 troops were lost and morale was low.
The wound on Chu Yangui's shoulder was simply bandaged by the military doctor.
Last night's retreat was so hasty that they didn't have time to take away food and fodder. The uninjured soldiers dug up some wild vegetables on the mountain and mixed them with the little rice they had snatched to make wild vegetable porridge to barely fill their stomachs.
Chu Yangui brought a bowl to Chu Changping.
Chu Changping stood on the cliff and looked at the capital city in the distance with a serious expression.
Chu Yangui said: "Uncle, drink something to fill your stomach first."
Chu Changping didn't even look at the food in the bowl, his eyes were always fixed in the direction of the capital: "You eat, I have no appetite."
"Victory and defeat are common in the military. It's not your fault that you fell into the shameless trap set by King Xinyang." Chu Yangui knew that he felt bad.
Chu Changping didn't say anything, just patted Chu Yangui on the shoulder.
With thousands of lives on his shoulders, as the commander, it was impossible for him not to feel guilty in the face of such a tragic defeat.
Chu Yangui said: "As long as the imperial garrison can hold out for two days, cousin Chengmao will come with the Yuzhou garrison, and we will attack from both sides with the imperial army. Prince Xinyang will have no hope of recovery."
The scouts that Chu Changping sent to the south yesterday to gather information only brought back news today that Prince Xinyang had actually rebelled and returned to the capital to seize the throne.
The urgent report from Hengzhou to Chu Changping was hijacked on the way, but the urgent report sent to Yuzhou was safely delivered to Chu Chengmao, who had already led his troops to the capital.
Chu Changping sighed: "I'm afraid the court won't last more than two days."
Hearing this, Chu Yangui, like Chu Changping, turned his gaze towards the capital city in the distance. Since dawn, thick smoke had been billowing over there.
The author has something to say: Huo Jianjia: Dare to steal my head? (Huo Huo sharpening the knife.jpg)
Xiao Han: Sorry to bother you