"Oh, it's okay. Go back and tell your adults, and I will help him celebrate next time."
Qiao Meng asked his staff to send Lin Xuanmo away, thinking: It is getting dark, what is he doing out of the city at this time?
Ding Kui led his troops out of the city, and a thousand knights went straight out of the west city gate. When Jiang Zhi found out, he only said one sentence, "He is invincible in night battles. He was like this before he was promoted to dominate the knights."
No one is more familiar with the topography of Nanqiu County than Ding Kui. Chinese chariots and horses traveled throughout the county and made complete and detailed maps. There are several charioteers in the knight brigade.
After leaving the city, he avoided crowded places and chose uninhabited places. He deliberately concealed his whereabouts from others and did not want others to know his whereabouts. This was his habit of leading troops at night.
"Ma Duping, how long will it take to get to Xixuan City?" Ding Kui did not ride his tiger striped galloping thunder horse. The peerless horse stayed in Hengfu City because he didn't have many opportunities to use it.
"Let's go in the middle of the night. It can go faster if we don't take a detour." Ma Duping acted as a guide this time, and he walked around this area more when the carriages and horses were moving.
"Wait." Ding Kui raised a hand, and the entire team stopped immediately.
There is a forest ahead, and Ma Duping wants to take everyone through the woods.
Ding Kui stared attentively for a while and said: "There are scouts in the woods. They should be our people. Go around and don't disturb them."
"Is there someone? They won't find us, right?" Bai Yun also looked into the woods with wide eyes, but found nothing.
"Haha, if your Excellency says there is someone inside, there must be someone there. I have known your Excellency for ten years and he has never made a mistake." Ma Duping turned around and explained to Bai Yun.
Ding Cai is in Kada City. The one who has followed Ding Kui the longest in this team is Ma Duping, and he is the one who knows Ding Kui best.
Ding Kui's mental power was stronger than Xia Fan's. When he led the cavalry brigade at night, he didn't even need to light a lamp. He would definitely be able to detect others in advance, but others would not be able to detect them.
"Let's go, we have to rush back to Qinglan City tomorrow night."
Ma Duping led the knight group around the woods and chose another road to Xixuan City.
Five miles south of Xixuan City, Shu Li set up camp here. Because of the lack of troops, he did not surround the city. The 76th Division spent the entire afternoon tentatively attacking the city. The 71st Division ran around the city several times and found at least two people in the city.
The flag of a division.
The senior officers of the four divisions discussed countermeasures overnight. Shu Li suggested: "Tomorrow there will be 10,000 civilians to help our army build camps and build siege equipment. Why don't we continue to attack the city tonight?"
"How do you feel this afternoon?" Wang Chou asked Ma Zhi.
"The enemy's 43rd Division's combat effectiveness is very average. Give me enough siege equipment and I can capture Xixuan City in three days." Ma Zhi seemed very confident.
Dong Ba reminded: "You think that the enemy's 30th Division in the North is dead. Besides, where are the tens of thousands of troops who retreated from the port city? They couldn't crawl to La in three days."
"That's your business. You can't let me carry it down alone."
"Don't be careless. It takes time to build siege equipment. The enemy will definitely increase their troops in Xixuan City. We must attack Xixuan City as a county town." Shu Li had a headache. The city in front of him was not as easy to fight as he had imagined.
"We can't lock the enemy in the city and fight. Our troops can intercept the enemy's reinforcements halfway." Dong Ba's finger drew an arc on the map, crossing the northeast side of Xixuan City.
"The enemy will also think of it. We cannot let the enemy troops in the city recharge their batteries. General Shu's suggestion is very good. We must attack the city day and night, and also divide our troops to attack other city gates. This can contain the defenders to the greatest extent. I
Come on, we will lead people to attack the city soon." Wang Chou led his army to arrive in the evening.
The 73rd Division did almost nothing after entering Nanqiu County. The soldiers had the strongest physical strength and no one objected to letting them attack the city overnight.
The defenders of Xixuan City had just fallen asleep when a large number of enemy troops appeared outside the south gate. Dozens of bonfires lit up the outside of the city. Archers rushed up and started shooting, causing panic on the wall.
The North 43rd Division quickly adjusted its troop deployment and sent heavy armored infantry to defend the city. They were mainly responsible for putting out fires and preventing enemy troops from approaching the city gates and walls.
Wang Chou arranged a group of shield bearers to test the firepower of the defenders. Knowing that the defenders were concentrating on defending the wall and had no intention of engaging him in long-range shooting, he divided two teams to go around the east and west gates to see if there were any loopholes in the defenders.
.
Although our own scouts could not get close to the Shaodian military camp, they knew how many troops there were and did not dare to relax their vigilance at night. Sufficient troops were deployed to guard the four gates of Xixuan City.
After the secret attack failed, Wang Chou concentrated his forces to attack the south gate, mainly to clear the obstacles outside the city and did not threaten the city walls and gates.
Da da da, da da da, a team of horses rushed back, and a knight came to report to Ding Kui, "There were flames outside the south gate of Xixuan City, and there were scouts patrolling nearby. The low-ranking officials did not see their clothes clearly, but
They are probably friendly forces."
At this time, Ding Kui led his team around to the west of Xixuan City, which was more than ten miles away from the city, without disturbing anyone.
"Well, continue to inquire, and be careful not to be discovered."
"Sir, there are hilly areas nearby, which is suitable for us to hide." Ma Duping reported.
"I know." Ding Kui nodded, "Baiting City has just been eaten up by part of the defenders of the 80th Division. It is impossible to rescue Xixuan City. Enemy reinforcements will only come from the east or northeast. We are hiding here.
It’s useless. Are the enemy troops so cowardly? I didn’t encounter any of their scouts along the way. Let’s go and go around to the east to have a look.”
The thousand knights ran from Qinglan City to Xixuan City, but they didn't bump into any of our own army's scouts. As if they were in an uninhabited land, all they encountered were friendly troops. It didn't look like an area occupied by our own army.
Until they bypassed the north side of Xixuan City and reached the east side, they still did not encounter any of their own scouts.
"It's strange, how many defenders are there in Xixuan City? Are there no scouts sent outside the city?" Ding Kui always encountered enemy scouts when he attacked the Tuofengshan outpost.
"Is there not enough troops in the city? The defender must concentrate his troops and hold on until reinforcements arrive." Bai Yun is currently the captain of Ding Kui's personal soldiers.
"No, if there are less than 10,000 defenders, the city will have been besieged and attacked by friendly forces. With tens of thousands of troops, why can't we send out one or two hundred scouts?" Ding Kui knew the urinary behavior of those division commanders, and there were two
With twice the number of troops, the city must be attacked from all sides.
"Is it because there is a lack of war horses in the city?" Ma Duping interjected.
Ding Kui and Bai Yun's eyes lit up at the same time, "That's right!"
Generally, scouts are equipped with horses when performing tasks. They only rely on running on two legs to deliver messages. They might as well light signal smoke, which is obviously not suitable for nighttime.
"I guess all the troops with war horses were killed by the 71st Division. Even if there are war horses in the city, there won't be many." Ding Kui thought of this possibility.
It's not that Ma Duping is more experienced, but that Ding Kui has never seen a large number of cavalry from his own country in previous battles. It stands to reason that there must be a lot of cavalry elsewhere.
"But what's the use of knowing this to us?" Bai Yun saw the excited expression on Ding Kui's face.
"Of course it's useful. Well, I should say, we can take advantage of this." Ding Kui pinched his chin hard.
Bai Yun seemed to understand but did not continue to ask.
"Let's go and have a look at the friendly camp." Ding Kui touched the horse's neck, and the horse turned around and ran towards the south.
Shu Li, Dong Ba and Ma Zhi came to greet Ding Kui outside the Chinese army's tent.
"My lords, please just sit back and relax in the tent. I don't want the whole army to know that I am coming." Ding Kui did not expect such a battle.
"It's okay! You all listen carefully, the news of the prince's arrival is not allowed to spread." Shu Li reacted and immediately gave the order.
The Chinese army tent is surrounded by men and horses from the 78th Division, and Shu Li is still somewhat useful in making up for the situation.
"Why did the prince come to us? Are you worried that we can't capture Xixuan City?" Dong Ba came up and hugged Ding Kui. The others smiled at each other and followed the two into the Chinese army tent.
"No, it stands to reason that I am the master of Nanqiu County, and you are considered a guest army. I should come over and take a look, and try to help wherever I can." Ding Kui did not dare to accept Dong Ba's words.
"Okay, please teach me how to lure out the defenders in the city." Shu Li was not teasing Ding Kui, but sincerely asking for help.
"This is not easy. There are many conditions that are not met."
When Shu Li and others heard this, they knew there was something going on! It was not easy, which meant there was a way. If the conditions were not met, they could think of ways to make it happen.
"What conditions are needed? Come on, come on, just say, I can't do it, and we can let everyone find a way together." Shu Li is under the greatest pressure, after all, he is the commander-in-chief.
Ding Kui winked at Shu Li, and Shu Li understood and dismissed the rest of the people in the tent, leaving only three division commanders.
"First, we must form a camp to surround the south, west and north sides of Xixuan City, and then do this." Ding Kui gave the general idea.
After he finished speaking, everything fell silent in the Chinese military tent, and the three division commanders fell into deep thought.
"Ahem, do you need to report this to the chief of staff?" Shu Li was the first to finish deducing Ding Kui's plan.
Dong Ba immediately went on to say: "There are some conditions that cannot be met by the legion, unless it is a theater headquarters, but I think this plan is very feasible, and I can't say that we can definitely capture Xixuan City, and there will be no problem in severely damaging an enemy force.
"
"Hey, my role is not important, as long as I have military orders to follow." Ma Zong and his 76th Division were not important links in the plan.
"My idea is not very complete yet. Some conditions will not be finalized until tomorrow night. I can go back to the chief of staff to study it privately." Ding Kui had no intention of hiding it from Jiang Zhiqian.
"We can do the previous things. It will be helpful for the attack on Xixuan City. Maybe it can promote some of the conditions." Shu Li can do things well within his ability.
"So far this is just an idea. If you don't object, I will do my best and try to turn it into practical actions. Please don't talk about it outside for the time being." Ding Kui was mysterious.
"Don't worry, everyone wants to win the war and won't talk nonsense. In my opinion, I can just leave the theater command to you, hahaha." Dong Ba couldn't help laughing after he said that.
Neither Shu Li nor Ma Zong took up the challenge. Without the coach, there would be no theater headquarters.