Xu Huai and Wang Ju galloped back to the low-lying land behind the woods. Shuozhou's men and horses were already in ambush, with white cloaks and robes as cover. The snow in the hills and valleys was so dazzling that if you didn't look at it for a while, it was difficult to see anything unusual.
.
At this time, many soldiers were forced to flee to Jingong Mountain. There were messy footprints and bloodstains everywhere on the north side of the woods, which did not explain anything.
Even if five or six members of the enemy cavalry team that was ambushed before escaped, they would only think that this was just a group of broken troops with considerable combat effectiveness - even if they could attract some attention from the Red Husbands,
It should also be extremely limited.
Shuozhou troops entered the predetermined location and ambush. Of course, there was no need to worry about any problems. However, Xu Huai's plan was to gather more than a hundred defeated troops on the left and right and deploy them as bait in low-lying areas, as if waiting to meet Liu Yan.
, Chen Yuan’s remnants, this link is a bit troublesome.
These frightened soldiers finally reached the southern edge of Jingong Mountain, and they could escape into the mountain within four or five miles. When Xu Huai and others withdrew, they all wanted to escape into Jingong Mountain in advance and did not want to stay.
He was acting as bait in the depression when he was stopped by Xu Xin'an and a dozen people.
"Do any of you know the map of mountains and rivers?"
After Xu Huai heard what Xu Xinan said about the situation, he drove his horse to the group of defeated soldiers, reined in the reins, glanced at the faces of these people calmly, and asked.
"We know something about it," two military officers stepped forward and said, "but what does this have to do with us staying here to fight with the cavalry? If we stay like this, I'm afraid it will cause trouble for you!"
These two military officials had recognized his identity before. Xu Huai guessed that although their status in the army was not high, they should be serving in the capital's control office or the military envoy.
Otherwise, Xiao Sheng, an ordinary soldier of the Xuanwu Second Army, is usually in the military camp, how would he have the chance to meet him?
Xu Huai stood up and dismounted, called the two military officials and several other military officials who looked like festival-level and flag-headed soldiers to him. He picked up a dead branch and briefly drew a line between Jingong Mountain and Jingong Mountain in the snow.
The topographic map of Shuozhou City came out and he said to them:
"It's good if you can have a rough understanding of the mountains and rivers - this is Jingong Mountain, this is Shuozhou City, and this is Xishan. You must at least escape from Jingong Mountain through Shuozhou City and into Xishan before you can escape safely back to Jing
Go to the state. At present, the Chihu people have limited troops to the west of Huairen. They cannot kill all the defeated troops fleeing south and west, so they will drive everyone as far as possible to Jingong Mountain. In the next four or five months,
The mountains will be blocked by heavy snow, and not even a wild bird can be caught in the mountains. These people cannot escape, and they will naturally freeze to death and starve to death in the mountains. Even if you can successfully escape into Jingong Mountain at this time, you have to escape from Jingong Mountain.
Have you ever thought about how many days it will take to cross mountains and ridges and walk to the southwest edge of Shuozhou? Think about it, if you can reach the southwest corner of Jingong Mountain in ten days and a half month, you will not be able to reach that point.
How many soldiers and horses can the Chihu people mobilize to intercept you between Jingong Mountain and Shuozhou City? Can you really escape from Jingong Mountain in the end without being trapped and dead in the mountain?"
After the Red Husbands annihilated the main force of the Yan army, they would use all their strength to move south as quickly as possible. It was impossible to care about the scattered troops and horses that fled into the deep mountains and old forests, but Xu Huai knew that the Xi'an army was much more powerful in combat.
The generals and generals also had complex origins and poor military discipline. They might even ignore the orders of their own generals. If he wanted them to obey orders, he would have to bluff and scare them.
Jingyuan is mountainous, and many military officials knew that if they entered Jinggong Mountain, without the guidance of someone who knew the way, they might not be able to reach the vicinity of Shuozhou City in ten and a half months, and they might not even be able to get out of the mountain.
Not to mention, what do they eat in the mountains these days?
"Please Junhou Xu, please save us!" several military officials shouted.
"Let me ask you, if you were stationed in Shuozhou and I, Xu Huai, were surrounded by thousands of enemy cavalry, would you come to rescue us?" Xu Huai asked.
Several military officials looked at each other in silence.
"We have saved you just now, and now we ask you to work with us to rescue Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and others, and these people are still your Xijunpaoze. You just want to escape and ascend to heaven quickly, pushing back and forth. How can you do it at this time?
Open your mouth and ask us to help you again? Do I, Xu Huai, owe you?" Xu Huai stared at these people coldly and asked in a deep voice.
"..." None of the military officials had the courage to look Xu Huai in the eyes and lowered their heads.
"It is said that there is no way out for man, but if man does not save himself, God will do it for him. You have all been killed by the Red Husbands, and it is useless for me to keep you. You can go, but you can each be well.
Don't think about getting dry food and weapons from Shuozhou and using the road to escape. Shuozhou owes nothing to anyone. If you want to save, you should only save the people you should save!" Xu Huai said with a sullen face, waving his hands, "There are still four people in Shuozhou.
Qian Jianrui is here, but they all have parents, children, brothers and sisters. Faced with the murderous Red Hussars, why don't they avoid their sharp edge and abandon the city to escape, but they still follow me deep into this chaotic place to rescue you who are in a hurry and don't know
Are we stupid, are we born to be mean? Even if you don’t fight for others in this life, are you too afraid to fight for yourself? If you run away, you know how to run, and you can escape back to your mother’s womb? "
"We understand our mistake and are willing to obey the orders of Marquis Xu Jun." Several military officials said.
Xu Huai took a long breath and said in a deep voice: "We want to take advantage of the rugged terrain of Jinggong Mountain to fight against the pursuit of the Red Husband Cavalry, but if we want to safely evacuate to Shuozhou as quickly as possible, we cannot hide in Jinggong Mountain."
Go deep into the mountain. The only thing we can do is to gather more people on the edge of Jingong Mountain. Let's join hands. If the enemy is strong, we will temporarily hide in the mountain to avoid the sharp edge, or rely on dangerous places to defend
——You must know that we are just avoiding the edge temporarily to prepare for a better attack next time, but we must not just think about escaping. If the enemy is weak, we will go out of the mountain and go west along the edge of the mountain, or harass the enemy.
Help more people in Pao Ze, so that we can reach Shuozhou faster than wandering in the mountains! However, to achieve this step, we must unite in the golden city and sacrifice our lives - although I don't know how many people can escape in the end.
You have to go out, but the only promise I, Xu Huai, can give you is that I, Xu Huai, will never leave you alone! If you are worried that it is too dangerous to act as a bait, then well, I will stay here and act as a bait with you. What else can you say?
?”
"...Only the military envoys obey the orders!" Several military officials had nothing to say and immediately expressed their willingness to obey orders.
These more than a hundred defeated soldiers came from Xiaosheng and Xuanwu armies. They were not under each other. Xu Huai did not expect them to cooperate seamlessly. He just asked a few military officials to lead one team each, holding swords, shields, spears and spears, and the two teams formed a formation facing south.
In the horizontal formation, two teams on each side form an oblique formation on the flanks to prevent enemy cavalry from directly attacking them, and leave a gap in the middle for them to ride in and out.
It looked like they had withdrawn in a hurry and led the remaining soldiers gathered here to wait for Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and others to come and join them.
Xu Xin'an asked people to bring some large shields, spears and arrows from the valley to supplement the remaining troops. Liu Yan and Chen Yuan led the remaining troops to move very slowly. There were scouts lurking in the woods watching the movements of both sides. Seeing that Xu Huai still had time, he again
Wang Ju, Xu Xin'an, Yin Peng and Wang Xian were summoned together, and the details of the ambush operation were deduced. Xu Xin'an and Yin Peng were called to return to the ambush site.
Soon, a dozen Red Guards scout cavalry passed through the woods, stopped more than a thousand paces away, and stared at Xu Huai and the others.
Wang Ju glanced at the enemy scouts and asked Xu Huai:
"The enemy attaches more importance to the west wing than expected. They may have paid attention to Shuozhou - if we gather two to three thousand or more defeated soldiers on the edge of the southern foot of Jingong Mountain,
Get up and turn towards Shuozhou City, which will probably attract more Red Husband cavalry to intercept you! Have you ever thought about this problem?"
"..." Xu Huai nodded, indicating that he had considered this possibility. He frowned, held the saber at his waist, and said, "To be honest, it is not very wise to fight the main force of the Red Husband Cavalry at this time.
Behavior, but if it is destined to be unavoidable, I think it is better to fight sooner than later!"
The Yan army was intercepted when they broke out last night. Although Xu Huai and the others were unable to send scouts into such a chaotic battlefield, they had come into contact with many defeated troops and were able to figure out some of the situation.
Unlike the Tianxiong Army, where the main force was held back in Datong City, this time the Xiaosheng Army and the Xuanwu Army broke out across the Hui River to the south, and were intercepted by the main force of the Red Husband Cavalry on the south bank of the Hui River in the early morning.
At this time, most of the troops were just scattered, and only a few were actually annihilated or captured by the red cavalry.
Yingzhou City is in the southwest of Datong, and Yanmen Pass is further to the west. After crossing Huihe River, there are Liuling Mountain, Niangniang Ridge and other mountains to the east of Yingzhou City within easy reach.
Although these mountains are far less majestic than the Xingling Mountains in the south, as one of the remnants and branches of the Yanshan Mountains, they also have deep ravines and steep cliffs, and the rugged terrain is conducive for infantry to hide, but not conducive for cavalry to enter and pursue.
After the breakout channels to Yingzhou and Yanmen were intercepted, a large number of soldiers of the Yan army would inevitably take refuge in Liuling Mountain, Niangniang Ridge and other mountains.
For the Chihu people, their more important task is to organize troops and horses to capture Yingzhou City, and deploy a large number of cavalry troops on both sides of the Yellow River to cut off the passage from Liuling Mountain and Niangniang Ridge to Changshan, so that they can truly
Achieve the campaign goal of annihilating the main force of the Yan army.
In Yingzhou and the battlefield west of Huairen, although thousands of defeated troops fled westward, even though the Chihu people had paid attention to Shuozhou, they were always in a secondary position.
Therefore, even if the gathering of rout soldiers at the southern foot of Jingong Mountain was too large and might attract some of the main red cavalry, Xu Huai was not particularly worried.
What can be predicted is that if a larger-scale war cannot be avoided, it will definitely occur in the gap of more than 20 miles from the southwest corner of Jingong Mountain to Shuozhou City.
In other places, when the enemy cavalry surrounds them, the remnants of the defeated troops can temporarily retreat to Jingong Mountain to avoid the battle; only this gap must be forced to break through, and it must be done before Cao Shixiong formally surrenders to the enemy and may send troops north to besiege Shuozhou City.