Lumingwazi is a low-lying flat land formed by the alluvial deposits of Luming River, a tributary of Bailangshui River, in this grassland. The terrain is relatively low, and the surrounding areas are slightly higher. Standing where Zhang Xingzhong is, he can see very far away. If it is daytime
, should be able to have a panoramic view of most of the depression. However, because it is at dawn and the sky is very dark, the specific situation cannot be seen clearly. I can only distinguish the scattered residual fires in the distant Lu Ming depression. These
The distribution and burning state of the remaining fires are very regular. Anyone with rich military experience can guess that a well-trained army should be temporarily inhabited here.
While Zhang Xingzhong was watching, Wei Keming, the instructor of the cavalry battalion next to him, whispered: "I just roughly counted, there are eighty-seven fires, but judging from the distance between them, there should be more. I think some of the fires have been extinguished.
Someone made an estimate by filling in the missing parts in the arrangement, and the total number should be about 120. According to the standards of our Yingzhou Army, the size of this camp should be 1,200 people. If it is a barbarian
, should be between 480 and 960 people."
When the Yingzhou army was stationed in the field at night, a group of ten people would light a bonfire. The Hu people would light the fire in large tents or small tents, with eight people in the big tent and four in the small tent.
Zhang Xingzhong thought for a while and asked: "This should be within the range of our scouts and reconnaissance cavalry. Such a soldier suddenly appeared. Why was there no report during the day?"
Wei Keming said: "Cavalry reconnaissance reports are made twice a day within a range of thirty miles, and once a day within a range of fifty miles. As of noon yesterday, no abnormalities were found here." This sentence also means that this camp suddenly appeared.
It only appeared after noon yesterday.
Zhang Xingzhong asked again: "Have you further inquired about the other party's situation?"
Wei Keming said: "I just sent two people to sneak over there. I didn't let them ride horses because of my humble position. I told them to be careful and they haven't returned yet."
Zhang Xingzhong secretly made a calculation in his mind. There are no more than three types of troops appearing in this position: friendly troops from other border military towns in Lulong, Khitan troops or Xi troops. This place belongs to Yingzhou's sphere of influence. It is also close to Liucheng.
Whether it is the Lulong friendly army or the Xi soldiers, when they enter such a sensitive area, they should notify the Yingzhou army and obtain the approval of the Yingzhou army. Therefore, among the three possibilities, the Khitan soldiers are the most suspicious.
I don’t know which tribe it is specifically.
But no matter what, the stationing of such an army here is in itself a provocative act against Yingzhou, especially for the Northern Command training at the northern foot of Helong Mountain. It is a great threat. This sudden appearance of
It would be fine if the army were friendly forces or ridicules. If they were really Khitan people, if this Khitan army really came straight towards him, then the consequences would be disastrous! At this moment, Zhang Xingzhong suddenly felt a sense of fear and happiness, but fortunately he
An impromptu night march in the wild will be in disgrace if it is delayed until tomorrow.
At this moment, the enemy and ourselves were not yet distinguished. Zhang Xingzhong could not rashly order an attack, but it was imperative to prepare for the war. He immediately ordered: "Send an order for the entire army to put on armor, and all units to mobilize immediately before the war and have an emergency meal. Order: After preparations are completed, all units will be deployed."
. Quickly form a wartime organization, with the first battalion of infantry as the center army, the second battalion of infantry as the left army, and the third battalion of infantry as the right army. Each army marches forward one mile and enters into formation two miles away from the enemy; the three armies are separated
Half a mile. Form a semi-arc encirclement against the enemy; gather all three cavalry battalions and follow the headquarters on standby. It is required that all units maintain silence when preparing for combat, and no noise is allowed. This is a violation of military law!"
The so-called wartime organization is a temporary organization in the Northern Command training plan. When the troops need to be split to form an independent combat array, one of the three infantry battalions will be allocated from each to form a group including the spearmen.
The battalion head of sword and shield soldiers and archers to ensure that independent combat missions can be completed with complete arms.
Following a series of short and urgent commands, all the ministries immediately began to prepare for battle. The soldiers took off their leather armors from their horses, helped each other, put on the whole bundle for the people next to them, and took out bread and water from the dry food bags, hurriedly
They hurriedly stuffed it into their mouths to maintain and restore their physical strength. Under the orders of the Yu Hou staff, they all lined up from the ranks and formed three new battalion heads on the spot. Then, under the orders of the commanders of each battalion,
, followed the Yu Hou staff to set off to the designated location. At the same time, the three cavalry battalions gradually gathered around Zhang Xingzhong and lined up to stand by.
Under the night, everything was carried out in an orderly manner in solemnity.
Zhang Xingzhong, Qin Yueshan and others opened their eyes carefully, trying to distinguish the surrounding terrain and find the best place to set up the headquarters. Luming Swamp is within the patrol scope of the scouts, so Qin Yueshan took this road that he has been running frequently in the past few days.
The line's cavalry was called to his side.
Omari was originally a samurai under Xiaolangjun Wuli of Pinbu. He was captured by Li Chengzhong's troops last winter. Later, he performed well in the training and transformation of the Bailang Mountain military camp and became the "Wolf" in charge of Jieli at that time.
An officer in the "Army". In the decisive battle with Pinbu Dalangjun Tuli, Omari was awarded for his meritorious service, so he was promoted in the ensuing expansion of the Yingzhou Army. After one month of training at the White Wolf Military Academy
, was appointed as the captain of the cavalry battalion Bdu Left Team.
The reconnaissance mission to the east was carried out by the Yidu Left Team in Omari. At this moment, he brought over two reconnaissance riders who specialized in the Lumingwazi route and reported to Zhang Xing again.
"There is a high slope in front of you on the left. It is the highest point near Luming Swamp. From there, you can have a clear view of the entire depression." A scout said respectfully.
Following the direction pointed by the scout, everyone vaguely saw the shadow of a high slope in the distance in the darkness. Zhang Xing nodded his head: "Set up a headquarters there and send orders to all departments to keep communication open."
After saying that, he got on his horse and ran towards the high slope. Ao Mali and several other cavalrymen quickly followed. Qin Yueshan ordered Yu Hou's staff to convey the news to all the ministries, and then he also got on his horse and followed.
Zhang Xingzhong took the lead and ran towards the high slope. As he ran closer, he suddenly heard two slight "buzzing" sounds of bow strings coming from the front. Although the sound was not loud, it was mixed with the very regular sound of horse hoofs tapping the ground.
It was very harsh. Zhang Xingzhong immediately shrank his body subconsciously and leaned on the horse. The moment he lowered his head, he felt a "swish" sound above his head and an arrow passed by. He felt the slight cool breeze brought by the arrow on his neck. At the same time,
I felt a sharp pain from the impact on my left shoulder, but it was another arrow nailed to my shoulder.
Zhang Xingzhong groaned and was horrified. In the dark surroundings where he couldn't see clearly, he could accurately judge his distance and direction just by the sound of horse hooves, and he could shoot so accurately. The enemy's archery skills were really surprising. But he
Not daring to stop, he pulled out the horizontal knife from his waist, pressed his legs against the horse's belly, urged the horse to go up the high slope, and vaguely saw two figures rushing towards him from the left and right.
Zhang Xingzhong yelled, "There is an enemy!" He swung his horizontal sword and struck the man on the right in the head. With a crisp "cang" sound, the horizontal sword was opened by the opponent's weapon. He threw off the stirrups with both feet in a hurry.
, jumped down from the right and threw the man to the ground. When he landed, his left arm was hit by the opponent's punch, which pulled the wound on his shoulder where the arrow was hit. The pain made him gasp, grinned and screamed, "
Ah..." At the same time, another enemy also bypassed the war horse, rushed to the front in a few steps, and slashed at his vitals with a knife.
In the critical moment, Zhang Xingzhong pulled the enemy under him and rolled to one side, calling loudly: "Come here! Omari! Lao Qin!..."
When Omari heard that there was an accident ahead, he was so frightened that he was the highest ranking officer in the entire Northern Command. If something unexpected happened, it would really be impossible to end it! He and two scouts followed him.
Not far behind Zhang Xingzhong, he immediately galvanized his horse and jumped up the high slope. At a glance, he saw three people entangled together. Without stopping, he rode directly into them, rushing the enemy who was swinging his sword aside, and then
He rolled down from his horse and rushed to the entangled two people. After distinguishing ourselves from the enemy, he grabbed the enemy's head with his big hands and dragged them backwards to separate them.
At this time, the cavalry of the Yingzhou Army and Yuhou's staff members were already on the high slope. Under Zhang Xingzhong's order to "keep them alive", they captured the two enemies respectively.
Qin Yueshan and others were shocked when they saw that Zhang Xingzhong had been wounded by an arrow on his shoulder, and they all complained to him. Zhang Xingzhong shook his head with lingering fear and said: "I don't blame you for this, it's because of someone's carelessness." As Zhang Xingzhong said.
, it is indeed no fault of others, it is entirely due to Zhang Xingzhong's own carelessness. He rushed over rashly when no one went to "clear the area" first. As a result, he was ambushed and almost became the first casualty in the entire northern command.
.
Without Zhang Xingzhong's instructions, Qin Yueshan immediately ordered people to interrogate the two enemies separately, and it became clear after a while.
"The Khitan Wukui tribe, with a force of one thousand, led by Qi Jinqihuomai personally, arrived at Lumingwazi at dusk yesterday. The purpose of this trip is to go straight to us, and it is to be carried out while we are training.
Raid." Qin Yueshan reported the situation to Zhang Xingzhong in the simplest words with a serious face.
"Wukui tribe? They are Wukai tribe? Is that correct?"
"Omari asked him personally, and he said it was the Wukai tribe. There is no doubt about this. The accent of the Wukai tribe is somewhat different from that of the Khitan tribes, with the unique shortness of the Turks." Qin Yueshan explained.
Zhang Xingzhong found it a little difficult to understand: "Isn't the Wukui tribe always on the east side of Yiwulu Mountain? Their combat target is the Mohe people of Bohai Kingdom, how come they came to our side? Also, how do they know our training location and time?
So clear?"
Omari was ordered to come to Zhang Xingzhong, and he said: "Zhang Duyu, you are right, it is the Wukai tribe. By the way, I just asked about the latest situation. This high slope is one of the warning areas of the Wukai tribe, and a
We only caught two of the small tent's rangers, and two others had already rushed to the camp in the valley to warn them."