Zhaoxian and Xiao Luan rode side by side, and the team slowly moved towards the Northwest Mountains. The Northwest Mountains were not majestic, with a radius of only thirty to fifty miles. Coal was produced on this mountain, but it was mined very hard during the Tang Dynasty.
The mine collapsed, and it is said that hundreds of people were suffocated to death inside. The scenery on the mountain was originally not very beautiful, and as news of the dead people spread, people became more and more frightened. Even the most courageous private salt dealers would not
I chose to walk at the foot of the northwest mountains, so it was extremely desolate.
When the weather is clear, you can see the shadow of the mountain from a distance. There are few trees and many strange rocks on the mountain, making the shadow of the mountain look eerie just by looking at it.
Zhaoxian turned sideways and asked Xiao Luan: "Master Xiao, are there really only three or four thousand thieves on this mountain?"
Xiao Luan knew that Zhaoxian was afraid of the large number of mountain bandits, and he had seen the fighting power of the Northern Han army, so it was not surprising that Zhaoxian was afraid of death. When he came, he did send people to find out, and there were indeed only three or four thousand people in the northwest mountains.
Most of the remnants of the bandits were old, weak, sick, and disabled. Except for Yang Yishan's 100-man personal soldier team, which looked decent, the others could be said to be vulnerable to a single blow.
The bandits' only support is the steep northwest mountain. If the bandits are unwilling to go down and fight, there is not much they can do to defend themselves based on the danger. The mountain road is rugged and the team cannot spread out. If a group of dozens of people rushes up, they will only be able to defeat them.
He became the target of the thieves' archers. At this time, Xiao Luan did not intend to tell lies to deceive Zhaoxian anymore, so he told the truth: "The thieves are indeed only more than 3,000 people, and most of them are old and weak and are not good at fighting. They were defeated by Zhou Zuowei.
General Han Geng was defeated again by Zhou Qianning's army and is now frightened, and his combat effectiveness is very weak."
He changed the subject and said: "It's just that the northwest mountain is steep and difficult to attack. It would be difficult for the thieves if they dare not go down the mountain to fight and take advantage of the danger and defend it."
Zhaoxian smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. If the thief refuses to come down the mountain, just set him on fire. When the mountain fire subsides, we only need to go up the mountain to count the bodies."
Xiao Luan was suffocated, thinking that the generals of the Northern Han Dynasty were all following Liu Ling's path, reckless and without any plan. He also wanted to rely on the Han army to gain fame, so naturally it was not easy to ridicule Zhaoxian, so he explained patiently: "
There are few trees and many rocks in the northwest mountains, so fire attacks may not be effective."
Zhaoxian frowned and said, "Does Mr. Xiao have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"
Xiao Luan smiled confidently and said: "This place is desolate, with no people living within a hundred miles of it. The thieves on the mountain also want to eat, so they can only travel one hundred, fifty or sixty miles east to rob the villages under Dingzhou, but they are afraid
I lure Ying Yanglang from Dingzhou Prefecture out of the sea, so every time I leave after a battle, I can't steal much food and grass."
He sat on horseback and pointed rockingly at the northwest mountains, which seemed to be pointing out the country.
"We only need to block a few roads going down the northwest mountain. The bandits have no food and will not be able to resist after three or five days of hunger. By then the bandits will come down the mountain to beg for surrender. We only need to wait for them to come down and kill them one by one.
"
Zhaoxian said in surprise: "Why do you still kill all the bandits when you have a good strategy to force them to surrender?"
Xiao Luan said: "Those bandits are all inhumane people. Today you defeat them and give them a lesson. Tomorrow they will pick up swords and guns and cause trouble. Simply kill them all and eradicate them. It can be considered as a radius of two hundred miles."
The common people have done a great good deed. Buddha has a good life, but doesn’t he also have a side of angry-eyed Vajra?”
Zhao Xian clasped his fists and said: "The prince told me when I came here that everything will be according to Mr. Xiao's instructions. That bandit is hateful, and Zhao has no kindness for a woman. Just follow Mr. Xiao's plan, let's surround him first."
Then Tian will force the thieves down the mountain and kill them all."
Xiao Luan laughed and said: "The Northwest Mountain is tens of miles away, and our 3,500 troops and horses cannot surround it. Didn't I just say that the Northwest Mountain is steep and difficult to navigate, and there are only a few paths down the mountain. We only need to
Just block the intersection."
Zhaoxian's face turned red, and then he said: "Uh... Your Excellency, you use your troops like a god."
Xiao Luan was about to say something modest when he suddenly heard a big commotion behind the team. Zhao Xian looked back and saw that the team behind him was already in chaos. He didn't want his team to be embarrassed in front of Mr. Xiao, so he called out to his soldiers
Said: "Go to the rear team to see what's going on, there's nothing!"
A soldier responded and was about to turn around when a man surrounded by blood ran over. The man shouted hoarsely as he ran: "General, something bad has happened!"
Zhaoxian raised his eyebrows, jumped off his horse and hurried over to meet him. He saw that the man was Wang Lun, the general who escorted Sui Gong to Dingzhou Mansion. At this time, he saw that his armor was in pieces and he was covered in blood.
Blood, the whole person looks like a bloody gourd.
"What happened!"
Zhaoxian asked in shock.
Wang Lun said with a dying breath: "General, the last general is incompetent... the annual tribute was snatched away by the Xixia cavalry!"
Zhaoxian grabbed Wang Lun's arm and shouted: "Say it again!"
Wang Lun cried bitterly: "The Xixia cavalry came from behind, and the soldiers could not resist it. After the Xixia soldiers scattered the brothers, they snatched the carriage transporting the annual tribute and diverted it to the southwest. At the end of the day, the general organized people and horses to catch up, but they
The Xixia cavalry turned around and killed them, leaving only less than a hundred of the 1,500 brothers left."
Xiao Luan was so frightened that he almost fell off the horse. He was helped off the horse and walked staggeringly to Wang Lun and asked: "Where is the Daliao cavalry in Dingzhou Prefecture? Didn't I ask you to send someone to inform him?"
General Haili?"
Wang Lun said sadly: "The thieves in the Northwest Mountains are causing trouble in Suining County, north of Dingzhou Prefecture. General Haili has led his troops to kill the thieves. The people sent by General Haili to Dingzhou came back and said that they did not see General Haili and his troops.
We didn't dare to leave the city without permission, so we were killed by Xixia soldiers twice, and we could only watch helplessly as the Xixia soldiers took the food and grass away."
Xiao Luan's vision went dark and he almost fainted. He bit the tip of his tongue before he managed to calm down. He turned around and took Zhao Xian's arm and said, "General Zhao, the Xixia soldiers will not move too fast to escort the grain and grass. Let's catch up now."
Maybe we can even get the food and grass back!"
Zhaoxian was also in a state of confusion at this time, and responded quickly: "Yes! Yes! The Xixia soldiers will definitely not move too fast, and we still have time to catch up." He only focused on repeating Xiao Luan's words, but completely forgot to give orders.
At Xiao Luan's reminder, Zhaoxian finally realized: "Order the rear team to become the front team. Wang Lun, let your men lead the way. Let's go after the Xixia soldiers!"
After panicking for a while, the team calmed down and chased towards the southwest at full speed. After marching for more than 20 miles, the infantry's physical strength had almost reached its limit. Just to grab food and grass, Xiao Luan and Zhaoxian could not order their men to rest, so they had to
He held on for a breath and continued running.
After marching for thirty miles, the infantry had run so far that they could no longer move. A long gap opened up between the more than 500 cavalry and the 3,000 infantry. Xiao Luan knew that even if he caught up with him in this state, he would never be able to catch up.
They were no match for the Xixia cavalry. They had no choice but to let the cavalry stop and rest, waiting for the infantry to catch up.
Half an hour had passed since the sheep-like infantry caught up. Xiao Luan did not wait for the infantry to rest and gave the order to move forward. The soldiers dragged their legs as if filled with lead and moved forward step by step.
After walking like this for another five miles, I could finally see puffs of smoke and dust rising in the distance ahead.
Xiao Luan knew that it was the dust and smoke brought up by the march of the team, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"It's not far ahead. Let's rush over and grab the food and grass!"
Panting, Zhaoxian pulled him and said: "Master Xiao, the soldiers are exhausted. Attacking with a tired force is like hitting an egg with a stone. It's better to rest for a while."
Xiao Luan refused and insisted that the soldiers continue to pursue. When everyone finally got close to the smoke, they could see clearly where the cavalry was. It was obvious that the Xixia soldiers set fire to all the baggage that could not be taken away.
The large carts were still emitting black smoke, and it looked like there were no less than forty or fifty of them. Xiao Luan knew that these carts were carrying silk, brocade and other soft materials. The Xixia soldiers must have thought these things were useless, so they
A fire burned it.
He tried to mobilize soldiers to pursue him again, but saw that the infantry were already slumped on the ground and could not stand up. No matter how Xiao Luan tried to boost morale with large sums of money or even whipped them with horse whips, the Han army was exhausted and refused to move any further.
When he was angry, suddenly the smoke from the burning vehicle in front of him was blown to the side by the wind, and then a black mass of Xixia cavalry came out of the thick smoke.
Zhaoxian was so frightened that he quickly called the soldiers to form a defensive formation. However, at this time, the Han army was extremely tired and hurriedly got up, but their hands were so trembling that they could not even hold their weapons. Before the square formation could be formed, Xixia
The cavalry was already approaching. Zhao Xian carried Xiao Luan on his shoulders and climbed onto the horse's back. He pulled out his dagger and thrust it into the horse's butt. The horse was in pain and ran away like crazy.
Two Khitan warriors, one on the left and one on the right, protected Xiao Luan as he escaped. When the three of them looked back, they saw people coming and going with swords and swords in the thick smoke, and the shouts of killing were deafening. The Xixia cavalry in white armors were charging back and forth in the thick smoke.
As if they were in an uninhabited country, the more than 3,000 Han troops were killed by the Xixia cavalry as if they were targets.
An arrow flew from an angle and shot down a Khitan warrior beside Xiao Luan. Xiao Luan's horse was frightened and could not stop. He had no time to see whether his subordinates were alive or dead. He just hugged the horse's neck tightly for fear of being killed.
The frightened horse fell off its back. Another Khitan warrior threw away the things in his arms while running. Yellow and orange gold was thrown on the ground to reduce the weight of the war horse.
Suddenly, a group of men and horses came from the front. It looked like they were Xixia cavalry. Xiao Luan turned the horse's neck hard, forcing the horse to change its direction and run out diagonally. A wolf-tooth arrow flew and pierced Xiao Luan.
Although he was wearing light armor on his back, the arrow was accurate and powerful, and it penetrated half an inch deep into Xiao Luan's back.
The last Khitan warrior was overtaken by the Xixia cavalry, and like a wave of water, he was quickly drowned by the torrent of Xixia cavalry. Seeing the Xixia soldiers chasing after him, Xiao Luan endured the pain and kept beating the horse, and finally regained his consciousness.
It gradually blurred, and I passed out while holding the horse's neck tightly. (To be continued)
