The land of Yuzhou has not been a hot place since ancient times. Even in the hottest months of July and August, you can still feel a few degrees of coolness.
The official road in the northern suburbs of Guyue City, which was supposed to be lively, has become bleak and desolate.
The rebel army blocked the North Road, making it difficult for caravans to do business.
Civil strife has always been a matter of life and death.
The day when the war will end is far away.
Southeast of Yuzhou, the Xunshan Mountains are almost connected to the Lushan Mountains.
To the east of the mountain range, an army of 200,000 under the command of Taoist Tienniu crossed the Han River and formed a camp near the grass.
Two hundred thousand troops is the slogan shouted by Tianniu Taoist.
After the right general Qin Hu entered Fufeng City, Taoist Tianniu realized the crisis and issued multiple summons orders, calling on Yuzhou's Wanping Army to go to Xunshan City to fight.
Yuzhou's Wanping army was vast. After entering Xunshan City, they joined forces with Taoist Tianniu.
More than 100,000 elite soldiers, known as the "200,000" army, came out of the Xunshan Mountains and faced the right general's 100,000 tiger troops from a distance, and their morale was actually high.
An army of 200,000 people camped from east to west, north and south, and were connected for more than thirty miles.
On the second day after the two armies formed a camp, Qin Hu sent his forward troops to fight.
The front army marched with great noise, and Tianniu Daoist's subordinates responded with the regular army.
The two sides formed a formation, mobilized a large number of archers to ambush in the rear, and agreed to launch a salvo after the sound of cannon.
Qin Hu's front army of 5,000 troops advanced in front of the opponent's formation, and heard the sound of cannons. Thousands of bows in the Tianniu Taoist formation were fired simultaneously, and arrows rained down from the sky.
The Tiger Army quickly set up arrow shields to defend themselves, but many people were still hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
Qin Hu from a distance was very surprised after seeing it.
"There are so many archers among the bandit army!"
Wei Kai was standing next to Qin Hu. The two of them climbed onto the temporary earth slope and had an excellent view of the entire battlefield.
When an army of hundreds of thousands engages in battle, a test attack will generally not reveal anything easily.
When the opponent came up, they fired thousands of arrows, obviously they had plenty of weapons and supplies.
"The Ten Thousand Ping Army has really become a phenomenon. It is a bunch of ragtag people, but now they understand the way of military formation and have gathered so many archers."
Qin Hu has experienced hundreds of battles, and he knew that the opponent was going to fight a protracted war with him as soon as he saw the momentum of setting up camp.
Wanpingjun has realized the advantages of protracted war.
As long as you resist for a while, problems will arise within the officers and soldiers.
Like Qin Hu, even if he is the right general and has the trust of the emperor, if the war progresses unfavorably, the emperor, who is suspicious by nature, will definitely have doubts. By then, Qin Hu will end up like Lin Xiao.
The army under the command of Tianniu Taoist occupied all the entrances to Xun Mountain.
Qin Hu must either defeat this 200,000-strong army, or else he will not be able to enter Xun Mountain even with his wings.
Qin Hu's goal has never been to regain lost territory, but to clear out the bandits in Yuzhou.
So the goals of both parties are actually the same.
One wanted to form a long camp to the east to resist the officers and soldiers and delay time, while the other wanted to suppress the bandits in the wild and complete their achievements in one battle.
The formation of today's trend is driven by the mutual tacit understanding of both parties.
"Taoist Tianniu has a very high spirit. He is a monk in the elixir formation realm and has profound magic skills. You have to be careful of his dirty tricks."
Beside Qin Hu, besides Wei Kai, there were other staff.
Seeing this, they couldn't help but give advice to the general on the right and show off their opinions.
"This doesn't have much to do with the spirit, does it? If we defend the city and there is no support on either side of Xunshan, we will inevitably be defeated in the future." Another scribe retorted.
The staff group under General Right usually only has five people in total.
In addition to the military advisor general Wei Kai, there were four other scribes.
The four scribes come from different families and are always very competitive with each other.
"If it is dragged into a siege battle, can Xunshan City support the consumption of an army of 200,000?"
"Tianniu Taoist still wants to win. Before Lushan, the Wanping Army had repeatedly won, and it has already grown extremely large. Now the number of soldiers exceeds our army. It is normal for them to want to go out of the city to defeat our army."
Several staff members have different views.
Qin Hu remained silent, only listening to their argument.
He suddenly looked at Wei Kai, then asked with a smile: "Wei Kai, what do you think?"
When they heard that Qin Hu took the initiative to ask Wei Kai for advice, the four of them shut up.
They have been in General You's Mansion for just as long as Wei Kai, but they cannot win General You's trust and love like Wei Kai.
In less than a year, Wei Kai was promoted to chief clerk.
Now that he is on an expedition against the rebels, he has been specifically chosen to be the strategist and general. It can be said that he is full of favors.
Wei Kai's expression had always been gloomy. When he heard the general's question, he frowned and said: "The weather is dry and things are dry, and the most afraid of fire attack is to build a camp based on grass. This Tianniu Taoist is supposed to be familiar with military books, how can he not know the truth?"
"My subordinates are worried that Taoist Tianniu may have other plans. General, it is better to prepare early and strike first."
Qin Hu fell into silence again and looked towards the battlefield.
On the battlefield, the five thousand Tiger Army forwards were unable to withstand the enemy's rain of arrows.
His generals also began to signal to the Chinese army.
Qin Hu waved his hand.
The flag officer beside him began to wave the flag.
Then several drums sounded, and two phalanxes of three thousand archers from the Chinese army pressed forward.
The archers fired volleys from left to right, and a large number of arrows flew into the sky and fell into the Wanping army formation.
The archers in the Wanping Army Formation had always aimed at the infantry phalanx at the front. Unexpectedly, the archers behind them could shoot farther than them.
Without warning, a large piece of the harvested rice fell down.
Wanpingjun hurriedly adjusted their formation, and the sergeants holding large shields pushed forward to defend.
The Tiger Army's vanguard took the opportunity to advance dozens of steps further.
.......
.......
After a day of fierce fighting, both sides tested attack and defense.
At the end, the Wanping army suddenly dispersed like a tide.
Then a middle-aged man wearing a white robe, holding a feather fan, came out riding a high horse.
The middle-aged Taoist priest in white robes with two long beards shouted at Qin Hu: "When today's emperor has lost his morality and is ruthless, the people of Li are suffering unspeakably. They have risen up and gathered together as a righteous army to save the common people. Why is the general doing the opposite and working for the tiger?"
Woolen cloth?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Qin Hu was already preparing to withdraw his troops, but upon hearing such "treasonous and unethical" remarks, he became furious.
He rode out on horseback and angrily scolded Taoist Tianniu: "You don't think about serving the country, you don't think about the kindness of the king, you bully the heaven and the earth, and harm the living beings, but you still have the nerve to talk to me? Today, on the order of the emperor, a large number of heavenly soldiers were gathered.
I vow to clear out Zhongzhou, kill all the evil forces, and urge you to surrender as soon as possible so that you will not suffer from the sword in the future!"
Both sides sneered and showed disdain.
Qin Hu's veins bulged in anger. He didn't expect that these thieves would actually come out to call for battle. They were so brave.
If Wei Kai hadn't stopped him, Qin Hu would have stayed up to fight at night.
He snorted coldly and returned to the camp.
Both sides ordered their troops to retreat, and the first battle was over.
On the way back to the camp, Wei Kai introduced the military report from Wang Meng to Qin Hu.
"Sir, Wang Meng blocked Bai Cai in Guyue, and Gu Bo had tens of thousands of elite soldiers to prevent them from coming to fight here."
"Yesterday, Cao Su, a thousand-man general under Wang Meng's command, led his army to fight in front of the battle formation and killed a captain of Wanping Military Realm. Then he set up a life and death arena to test his skills with the masters in the city."
Qin Hu slowed down his steps. He had heard Wei Kai mention the name Cao Su more than once.
On the matter of "containment", both Wang Meng and Cao Su did a good job, but that's all. What's the deep meaning of Wei Kai mentioning it at this time?
Although he thought a lot in that moment, there was still a look of approval on his face.
"Wang Meng is indeed a fierce general in Jiangzhou, and his reputation is well-deserved. This Cao Su has also done well. The young man is very energetic."
Wei Kai whispered calmly: "Sir, if you go south from Guyue City, you can enter the Xunshan Mountains."
Qin Hu's eyes suddenly shone brightly, and he instantly understood what Wei Kai meant.
Sometimes the partial master can also become the main force.
Qin Hu stopped and said dissatisfied: "Such a good strategy, why didn't you mention it before?"
Wei Kai shook his head and said: "I never thought that Cao Su would directly capture Yuncheng, and Wang Meng would force the Wanping Army of Guyue City into the city and not come out. This place is too far away, and the terrain disadvantages are too obvious. Guyue City is tall and thick, so I
I didn’t choose to enter Xunshan from here.”
"Now the situation has changed. If the partial troops along this route are used properly, they can be worth a hundred thousand soldiers."
What Wei Kai said was the righteous art of war, how could Qin Hu not know about it?
He instantly thought of the many benefits of attacking Xunshan City from this route.
Now the entire Xunshan City is outnumbered, and the interior of Xunshan City is empty.
If Wang Meng can harass the rear of Xunshan City, it will undoubtedly cause a major blow to the Wanping Army in front.
But if the Wanping Army in Guyue City knew that Wang Meng had left Guyue City, they would definitely lead an attack. It would be very dangerous for the rebel army outside the city that has been containing Guyue City.
Qin Hu hesitated, but made up his mind after a moment.
A secret order was issued: "Order Wang Meng to immediately lead his men and horses to attack Xunshan City."
Then he added: "Young general Cao Su can stay in Guyue to fight as a containment."
Wei Kai heard Qin Hu's secret order and responded with his hand.