After a cup of tea, the enemy cavalry galloped out of the slope valley and appeared on the north bank of the Gupo River. The galloping horse hooves stirred up smoke and dust all over the sky on the dirt road between the slope valley - if the sentry cavalry had not detected the third
There were only about two hundred enemy cavalry in pursuit. Looking at this posture, one would have thought that thousands of troops were coming to kill them.
The guard cavalry did not panic. Under the leadership of the commander and three generals, they divided into three teams and approached the left and right river banks.
Although the Red Husband Cavalry had the means and experience to cross the Xixi River, the water flow in the Gupo River was so turbulent after it entered the flood season and the river bed was so deep that crossing was by no means an easy task.
And the guard cavalry of the mule and horse teams are by no means easy to deal with.
On the one hand, this team of mules and horses operating between Chushan and Qinzhou is responsible for transporting salt, tea, iron, and fine horses to Chushan.
major.
On the one hand, the journey of more than 2,000 miles was mostly rugged mountain roads and encountered many deep mountains and dense forests.
Nowadays, the war is in chaos. I don’t know how many bandits and refugee forces are hiding in the Bashan and Qinling Mountains. There are still new hungry people. The refugees and the nearby middle and lower class poor people are forced to make a living and become bandits. They will not be able to defeat the bandits once or twice because of the mule and horse teams
The plundering and harassment will become peaceful from now on.
In fact, when the mule and horse teams went west from Lueyang and entered the mountainous areas where the government's control was weak, they would encounter bandit attacks almost every time.
At the same time, Xu Huai also paid great attention to cultivating the ability of the forward army to conduct roundabout operations over long distances. He hoped that the generals would have the experience and ability to deal with complex terrain, and that the generals would be more tenacious and hardworking.
Therefore, this time the mule and horse team traveled between Qinzhou and Chushan. Xu Huai directly transferred elite escorts from the vanguard army to escort them, and they were basically led by generals above the commander level.
Now the Sentinel Cavalry confirmed that the first batch of chasing enemy cavalry was only about two hundred. Not to mention the raging Gupo River in front of them, they were completely fearless even in the vast wilderness.
What's more, behind them, more than 400 mule and horse troops gathered in formation, as well as more than 50 cadet generals such as Xu Pang and Su Mi - these cadet generals are not ordinary young melon seeds.
Military generals who have already held a certain level of generals and have been recommended to train in samurai houses again. Some of them have even held the rank of commander. They are all relatively mature military generals with extraordinary martial arts skills.
Zhang Xiongshan stood on the hillock and watched with a solemn expression as more than two hundred enemies rode to the north bank and reined in their horses, using a relatively loose formation to control the gentle slope on the north side of the ferry.
At this time, a few miles east of Xingguo Mountain, a stick of wolf smoke rose into the sky, like a black spear pointing straight into the sky, but Datan City, which was theoretically the western barrier of Qinzhou City, showed no movement.
When the nearby herdsmen saw the smoke, they became alert and mounted their horses one after another. Some drove the grazing sheep back to the tribe, and some also gathered towards the Gupo River.
Zhang Xiongshan stared in the direction of Datan City in confusion.
"There was no warning at all in Datan City. Has it fallen?" Su Miao rode back to Zhang Xiongshan and asked in confusion, "Given the importance of Datan City, Prince Xiao should not not arrange for troops to be stationed there.
The focus is on defense, and as long as there are hundreds of thousands of garrison troops, even if there is a sneak attack, there will not be time to light up the smoke - could it be said that the garrison troops in Datan City have long been mobilized, and they were attacked by surprise?
Did the soldiers steal the opportunity?"
Zhang Xiongshan frowned. As a former Khitan general, he was very familiar with the Khitan's conscription system.
Currently, there are only more than 20,000 strong young men of the Khitan remnants who have moved west to Qinzhou. In order to better recuperate, Xiao Linshi cannot recruit too many troops:
When the situation is tense, it is normal to draw one from five, one from three, and maintain a cavalry force of 5,000 to 8,000 people in the areas near Qinzhou; but when the situation eases, the scale of the conscription even drops to ten.
Only by smoking one can you better promote recuperation and recuperation.
The Chihu army has encircled Xingqing Mansion, and other areas of Dangxiang have no resistance. At this time, whether the remnants of the Khitan are preparing to defend Qinzhou, or planning to move west from Qinzhou to find another place to live, they must carry out a comprehensive
, thoroughly mobilize and prepare for war.
In other words, Qinzhou now has the capacity to mobilize fifteen thousand or more cavalry, so Zhang Xiongshan would not be surprised.
After Qinzhou has carried out thorough mobilization, at least when the main force of the Red Army comes to kill Qinzhou, the force will be sufficient.
Judging from the previous reactions of the herdsmen and garrison troops near the ferry, it is obvious that the main force of the Red Army has not yet rushed to Qinzhou to kill. What does it mean that Datan City, which is the western barrier of Qinzhou, fell so easily?
Zhang Xiongshan guessed a few possibilities, but did not say them directly. He said to Su Mi:
"From the west to the north of Qinzhou, there are slopes and valleys. It is difficult for large groups of cavalry to move without leaving a trace. The enemy cavalry that raids into Datan County may only have a few hundred or one or two thousand elite forwards——
Qinzhou City should have enough troops to deal with it, so we can just watch the battle on the south bank!"
Seeing so many people and horses gathering on the south bank, the enemy cavalry who pursued them to the north of the ferry did not rush across the river. After controlling the mountains to the north of the ferry, they separated out a small number of people and horses to kill the scattered herdsmen and rob their cattle, horses and sheep.
About an hour later, a group of cavalry rushed towards the north bank of the Gupo River from the east, like a sharp blade, directly killing the enemy cavalry scattered in the valley.
The enemy cavalry sneaked into one of Qinzhou's heartlands. It was obviously not for a tough fight, but rather a military reconnaissance operation to find out the strength of Qinzhou's defenses.
After seeing the Qinzhou cavalry coming with a fierce attack, more than two hundred enemy cavalry on the north bank immediately dispersed in all directions. The two sides fired at each other with bows and crossbows, looking for opportunities to weaken and annihilate the other side, but the cavalry who came out from Qinzhou dispersed in all directions.
, Cavalry shooting is obviously not weak, and he even looks for the horse under the opponent to shoot.
After entangling for a while, the enemy cavalry saw that they could not take advantage, so they dispersed from the slopes and valleys to put distance between them.
The Qinzhou cavalry did not pursue the enemy cavalry, but stationed themselves on the grassy slope to the north. Soon more than a hundred cavalrymen, their clothes and armor stained with blood, came to join them——
Zhang Xiongshan and others' view was blocked by mountains and they could not see the progress of the war in the direction of Datan City. However, they guessed that the situation should be under the control of Qinzhou soldiers and horses, so they immediately took the ferry with Xu Guanshan, Su Mi, Xu Fan and others.
On the north bank, meet the Qinzhou general.
When they got off the boat and walked up the grassy slope, they saw the Qinzhou military general taking off his gold-plated flying coat, revealing his extremely beautiful face. Zhang Xiongshan was surprised and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Zhang Xiongshan has seen Xiao Xiao."
Princess?"
"We were so unprepared in the direction of Datan that we actually asked six to seven hundred enemy cavalry to cross the Yu River from the west and come in. Were you not disturbed?" Xiao Yanhan held down the saber on her waist and swept away Zhang Xiongshan, Xu Guanshan and others.
He glanced at me and asked.
"We're okay! Along the way, we encountered a lot of bandits and bandits. We're used to this kind of chaos!" Zhang Xiongshan said.
"Why are you leading the team here this time?" Xiao Yanhan asked in surprise.
She knew that Chen Zixiao, Zhang Xiongshan and others were very important in Chushan, and they were usually very busy with affairs. No matter how important the goods transported by the mule and horse teams were, Zhang Xiongshan did not need to escort them personally.
"Xu Hou selects a group of cadet generals to go to Qishan Road to experience this time. There are still a few thorns that no one can suppress. Another Xu Hou wants to know more about the seriousness of the situation in Longxi and Hexi, so he arranged
I'll come over for a visit!" Zhang Xiongshan replied.
"Is Xu Hou okay?" Xiao Yanhan glanced east and asked leisurely.
Xu Teng nudged Su Mung with his elbow and winked at him, implying that there must be a ghost here.
"Everything goes well, Marquis Xu. This time I brought many gifts to the princess, Xiao Shuai..." Zhang Xiongshan just pretended that he couldn't see Xu Zang and Su Mi's little actions. After answering Xiao Yanhan's words, he introduced Su Mi and Xu Zan.
The others introduced Xiao Yanhan and Wu Sanrong, the general beside Xiao Yanhan, "Su Mung is the son of Su Laochang, the left chief of Chushan, and Xu Zhen is the son of Xu Wuqi, the right commander. They are both outstanding figures of the younger generation in Chushan. Xu
Marquis ordered them to interact more with Qinzhou generals..."
"Then let's go to Qinzhou first!" Xiao Yanhan looked at Mushroom Su, and then looked at the bundles of goods thrown on the grass slope on the south bank, and said, "Qinzhou will arrange for people to help you transport those goods to the city. You can arrange it
Only three or five people can take care of it. The others have come from afar and are tired. Please follow me back to Qinzhou to rest..."
"Thank you, Princess Gu Nian." Zhang Xiongshan motioned to Xu Guanshan and some people to stay and help transport the goods. The others went to Qinzhou City first, hoping to see Xiao Linshi quickly to discuss the secret.
Zhang Xiongshan followed Xiao Yanhan with his men and horses, and Wu Sanrong led hundreds of Qinzhou cavalry to the east of Qinzhou City. On the way, soldiers and horses who intercepted and attacked the enemy came to join them, and finally arrived at Qinzhou City at dusk.
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At this time, it can basically be seen that there may be only two or three thousand cavalry left in Qinzhou City. Compared with the previous estimate that Qinzhou City should mobilize troops and horses, there is a huge gap. It is unlikely that they will all be deployed north of the Yu River.
