More than a hundred refugees hurriedly fled south along the river embankment. From time to time, they looked in panic at the woods three or four miles away behind them. In order to buy them more time to escape, Shidu Xiangyong resolutely stayed in the woods over there.
While fighting with the pursuers, they heard screams coming from the woods. No one could believe that the brave men armed with bamboo spears and wooden spears could dismount the armor-clad pursuers.
The eyes of the refugees were full of fear; some people could no longer run and were sitting in despair in the mud.
The boy with a dirty face held the little girl's hand and ran away panting among the crowd. Not wanting to be hit, he stumbled and rolled down the river embankment. The little girl who let go of his hand screamed in panic.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, Xiaoyu, don't stop, run to the woods ahead! Get in and don't come out again! Two legs can't run as well as four!"
Although the river embankment is not high, the slope protection is very steep, and it is wet and slippery after the rain. The boy went all the way south and spent several days catching snails, loaches, small fish and shrimps from the wild fields, and mixed them with wild vegetables.
I was so weak that I couldn't climb up the river embankment several times. I saw cavalry looming in the woods about to chase them out, so I waved and shouted to the little girl.
The little girl was crying and lying on the river embankment. She couldn't stretch her hands far, so she just wanted to slide down the river embankment and join the boy.
The river embankment is steep and slippery, and the cavalry chasing them from behind may not be able to rush up the river embankment for a while. It is almost impossible for the people under the river embankment to escape the massacre - when he saw the little girl walking down the river embankment, the young man screamed anxiously
: "Don't come down, let's run forward together! It will be safe when we reach the woods ahead!"
The young man didn't know the name of the big river they passed after they fled south. There were many woods on both sides. Compared with the elm woods behind them, the woods in front were larger and denser. He thought about getting in and surviving.
Only then may the hope be greater.
Immediately, the boy used his last strength to lead the little girl on the river embankment and stumbled towards the woods three or four miles away.
However, the chasing cavalry quickly defeated more than a dozen local warriors who took the initiative to intercept in the woods behind them, and then rode their horses out of the woods to pursue them.
For the murderous cavalry, the distance of four to five miles only takes a few more blinks.
These cavalrymen killed the refugees from behind. They raised their swords high and aimed at the refugees' necks from behind. They slashed hard and fast, bringing with them a cloud of blood. In the blink of an eye, dozens of unarmed refugees fell to the ground.
In a pool of blood.
Although the woods two miles away seemed to give people a better chance of survival, in the eyes of the remaining refugees, this distance was as insurmountable as a natural chasm.
Refugees huddled on river embankments are no longer necessarily safer.
Several cavalrymen were seen moving forward, taking off their riding bows hanging from their saddles, and shooting at the refugees on the river embankment. These refugees were carrying packages with them. The cavalry wanted to plunder their belongings, but of course they were not allowed to escape south.
The little girl lost her footing and rolled down the river embankment, falling into a small mud pond. The boy ran over and hugged her tightly.
Seeing the two cavalrymen riding towards them with ferocious faces, the young man couldn't help but tremble, but he still firmly protected the little girl behind him. He picked up a tree branch and placed it in front of him, trying to follow the man in front of him.
The pursuers fought tooth and nail.
"This little bastard is quite talented!" A cavalryman reined in his horse and laughed with the people around him.
He took off his riding bow from the saddle and looked at the young man as if he were looking at prey. When he took out an arrow from the quiver, before he put on the bow string, he heard a "Woo-Woo" sound coming from the woods in front of him.
There was a loud sound of trumpets, and both cavalrymen looked forward in surprise.
But he saw six cavalrymen galloping out of the woods ahead, wearing leather armor and holding bows in front of them. They looked like scouts from the south.
"These grandsons are like this
Do you want to save these refugees?" The cavalryman who reined in his horse and stopped in front of the boy asked his companions beside him in astonishment.
The main force of the puppet Chu army still stayed north of Yingshui, while the soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty built a defense line at Rushui. However, in the buffer zone between Rushui and Yingshui, scouts from both sides would run into each other head-on from time to time.
Generally speaking, scouts are only responsible for keeping an eye on the opponent's movements. If they encounter each other in the buffer zone, they will ride their horses to avoid it, and they will easily avoid engaging in combat.
Seeing that six Southern Dynasty scouts dared to blow horns and charge out from the woods in front, a dozen Chu army scouts quickly gathered into two teams, trying to outflank the six Southern Dynasty scouts from the left and right.
"Whoosh!" Several Southern Dynasty scouts were not afraid of being outflanked by the Chu army, and galloped straight towards the river embankment. When they were one hundred fifty or sixty steps away, the knight in front of him stood up on his horse, stretched out his bow and drew a sharp sword.
The arrow was like a shooting star, hitting a Chu soldier in the face the next moment.
More than a dozen Chu soldiers were stunned for a while before they realized that these Southern Dynasty scouts were real tough opponents. The cavalry bows they held did not have such a long range. At this time, they thought of moving to the west to distance themselves, but the distance between the two sides was already close.
At about a hundred paces, six Southern Dynasty scouts opened their bows and shot arrows with accuracy and ruthlessness. In the next moment, four Chu army scouts were shot down from their horses.
The remaining Chu army scouts no longer dared to stay. They lowered their bodies and fled to the edge of the woods to the north. They distanced themselves as quickly as possible and fled.
The six Southern Dynasty scouts had no intention of pursuing them. They rushed to the river embankment and saw dozens of corpses lying in a pool of blood. They lay scattered on the ground and up and down the river embankment. Everyone else was also frightened.
A man galloped forward, waved his hand and pointed to the southwest, and said: "You go directly to the southwest along the path behind the woods - don't worry about the bodies of your relatives. We are born without a family, and we will return to the land after death. Thirty miles away is Wang
Shanjin, hurry up and get there, our troops will be there to help you cross the river..."
This man took off two heavy cloth bags from the saddle and threw them over, saying,
"Each of you should eat some of the wheat cakes in it, and you are not allowed to devour it alone. You will have your own supplies when you reach Wangshanjin, not less than the last thirty miles. Don't stop at night. Next time you ask the fake Chu scouts to get involved, there may not be any.
The reinforcements are just around the corner!"
"Thank you, Grandpa Bing!" The refugees who survived the disaster kowtowed on the ground. They took the bag and took out the wheat cakes to share. They hurriedly bid farewell to their relatives and friends who were lying in a pool of blood. A few of them who still had some strength left the injured.
On his back, he fled hastily toward the southwest.
When the little girl rolled down the river embankment, she frowned. The boy struggled to carry her up, but the boy was too weak. How could a small piece of wheat cake make up for her strength? They hadn't gone far, and there were other people behind her.
, staggered and almost fell, and had to sit in the mud to rest.
Two knights rode over, pulled the boy and the little girl onto their horses, and galloped back to the river embankment.
The leading knight looked at the young man and the little girl and asked: "Where are you from?"
"We are from Liujiaji, Shangshui County! Half a month ago, more than a thousand puppet Chu troops came from Shangshui City to Liujiaji, invaded the village, and killed people everywhere. My parents were scattered by the pursuing soldiers when they fled, and I was the only one.
, Xiaoyu and his eldest brother hid all the way here. However, when this group of pseudo-Chu soldiers caught up with them, my eldest brother and a dozen fellow villagers tried to stop them in the woods behind. He must have been killed by this time.
..." the young man said.
Xu Huai saw that the young man was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Under such circumstances, he could still explain clearly what happened before and after Liujiaji met the enemy. Look at the mud around him, and the long clothes torn in several places were not worn by poor people.
The Ge Yi, the little girl is also wearing silk clothes, and she is indeed not a child of the poor.
"Shi Hu, go take a look in the woods ahead. This group of puppet Chu troops wanted to rob property, but they may not have killed everyone in a hurry!" Xu Huai said to Shi Hu.
Shi Hu led the two of them towards the woods ahead.
He didn't show his face to avoid being spotted by the puppet Chu army scouts.
Zhou Jing, Niu Er and others, who were full of information, came out of the woods in front of them at this time - Zhou Jing recognized the young man and said: "Your name is Liuhuting, right? I stayed in Liujiaji a month ago, your eldest brother
His name is Liu Yueting, your father Liu Zhijing is the head of the Liu clan..."
After a while, Shi Hu led people to pick up the three injured people from the woods and rushed back. He said to Xu Huai: "There are still two people who are too seriously injured. There is no way to survive, so we can only leave them in the woods!"
"Brother! Brother!" When the young man saw an injured person, he jumped off his horse and ran over, asking with concern, "Where are you injured?"
"Don't touch your brother. He has two arrow wounds on his body. There is no way to pull out the arrow at this time!" Shi Hu stopped the young man.
Xu Huai looked at the wilderness to the west of Fenquan River, sighed softly, and said, "Look back at Shanjin!"
When he came out this time, his original plan was to cross the Fenquan River and go to the Yingzhou area to see the enemy's situation, but now there were three wounded and two children, so he had to escort them back to the Shanjin stronghold first.
Yingzhou is located in the lower reaches of Yingshui River and governs Ruyin County. It borders Caizhou to the west, Bozhou to the east, Huoqiu County in Shouchun to the south, Guangzhou to the southeast - Yingshang County where Yingkou is located, and Huaichuan to which Guangzhou belongs.
The county is adjacent to Huoqiu County, which belongs to Shouchun Prefecture, and Zhishou County, Shouchun Prefecture.
At this time, in addition to Liu Xian and the generals who were envoys to pacify the Jinghu North Road, Fu Qi, the commander of Xuanwei Army, led 20,000 troops to garrison Huaichuan, Huangchuan and other cities. Zhao Guan, who was granted the title of Queen of Huai, also moved to Shouxian County.
In addition to the general Han Shiliang who led 20,000 troops to guard the two important towns of Xuzhou and Suzhou on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Huai River, and the Sima Yang Maoyan of the Prince of Huai, who also knew Chuzhou, and led 10,000 soldiers and horses to guard Chuzhou on the south bank of the lower reaches of Huainan, Huai Wang Zhao
Guan transferred the main force of more than 70,000 soldiers and horses to Shouchun and Luzhou to the south of Shouchun.
Although the Shouchun Mansion is mainly located on the south bank of the Huai River, after April, the Huai Prince Mansion successively sent troops to occupy Yingshang, Xiacai and other cities close to the north bank of the Huai River to strengthen the defense of Shouchun and Shouxian County.
In early June, Yue Hailou's general Zhong Changqing led his troops from Xiangcheng, along the Ying River to the southeast, and entered Shenqiu and Taihe counties. The military pressure along the entire Huaihe River increased sharply.
However, neither Zhong Changqing nor Yue Hailou expected that their 60,000 newly formed troops could really tear apart the defense lines deployed by Vietnam along the Ru River and Huai River.
Yue Hailou moved from Xuzhou to Chenzhou and asked Zhong Changqing to station in the northern area of Yingzhou. Xu Huai judged that their main purpose was to contain the military power of Vietnam in Jinghu and Jianghuai.
In this way, they can not only suppress the military forces in Xiangyang that can no longer integrate Jinghu, Jianghuai and other places, but also enable the main force of the Southern Army in Chihu Town to attack Heluo without any distractions.
Xu Huai expected that if Yue Hailou really led his troops to cross the Ying River on a large scale and advance towards Ru River, at least he would have to wait until the main force of the Yan army in Chihuping, led by his third prince Tu Ge, would sweep across the entire Jingdong area from north to south and conquer Xuzhou. After taking over the two important towns in Suzhou.
At this stage, Zhong Changqing is occupying the two cities of Shenqiu and Taihe. On the one hand, he is plundering the surrounding villages and towns to search for supplies. On the other hand, he is fighting with the Xuanwei Army and Huaihe Army in Huaichuan and Yingshui who are trying to push the defense line northward. The left army of the royal palace stayed in battle; while generals such as Feng Shizhao, Meng Jie, and Jiang Zhaode under Yue Hailou also frequently dispatched groups of elite troops to cross Ying and enter the area between Ru River and Ying River to burn, kill and loot.
Although Xu Huai issued an order to strengthen the walls and clear the country in the Chushan defense area very early, he also sent people to Shangshui and other counties north of Xincai to persuade more clans to take their people to withdraw south, but with little effect.
However, it was only after Yuehailou massacred Chenzhou City and sent troops to burn, kill and loot south of Yingshui River that hundreds of thousands of people south of Yingshui River left their homes and went south in panic. But by this time, the butcher knife of the surrender army had already been cut Even in order to prevent a large amount of supplies and belongings from being taken away by the fleeing people, the massacre along the way was even more cruel and cruel...