Zhao Da and Zhuo Qing were left to fight in Cangzhou City. Hua Ling brought 15,000 troops, and Liu Ling raised 10,000 troops, leaving 5,000 troops to help defend the city. Liu Ling took 10,000 troops, and in the middle of the night
The batch of people slipped out from the south gate. The assassins from all over the Overwatch Council left the city first like ghosts, clearing away the secret sentries and scouts placed by the Khitans in the distance outside the south gate. At least before dawn, the Khitans would not know about the city.
A team of more than 10,000 people slipped out.
People in the Overwatch Council like black and dark nights, because at night, they are kings, and no one can stop them, and no one can block their murderous daggers.
There were several birdsong in the distance, and Liu Ling signaled the last team to leave the city. This was the agreed-upon code. People from the Overwatch Council had been guarding outside the city to ensure that the army would not be discovered when leaving the city.
The horses were reined in, and the horses' hooves were wrapped with thick cloth. Although the team left the city not quietly, there was not much movement.
After leaving the city, Liu Ling met up with the team that had left the city twenty miles south of the city.
The movements of ten thousand men and horses, no matter how careful they are, will not make any sound. But fortunately, the night killers from the Overwatch Council cleaned up all the Khitan scouts outside the south gate. Secondly, the Khitan people never expected it.
, the few men and horses in the city are not even enough to defend the city, and they will go out of the city to die themselves.
Because Hua Ling was coming to Cangzhou, he brought all the cavalry this time. Liu Ling ordered Zhao Ba to lead a thousand men and horses as the vanguard and head straight to the southwest. He ordered Hua Ling's deputy general Situ Zhengcheng to lead a thousand men and horses to the rear and stay two miles away from the brigade.
distance. He ordered 8,000 cavalry to form the center of the army and advance rapidly towards the predetermined location.
Southwest of Cangzhou is a flat river, and there are not very big woods. There is no place suitable for setting up an ambush. However, it is early autumn now, and the weeds in the wilderness are as tall as a person. Don't expect to be able to hide a person in any grass nest on either side of the official road.
It was discovered that after years of fighting, large areas of land were deserted. In recent years, Zhao Tieguai has continued to annex other forces in the northern states, and the war has been raging. Especially in the northern states, almost all the young people have been captured.
.On both sides of the official road, you can't walk too far and you will see an abandoned village. Without the men, the old, weak, women and children can't survive and have to flee. Everyone in the world knows that the people living the best life nowadays are those in the Han Dynasty.
There are more than a dozen states. Therefore, even though they are far away from each other, many people of the Zhou Dynasty fled to the Han Dynasty with their families just for the hope of survival.
Take Qinzhou and Liaozhou as examples. In recent years, they have accepted more than 100,000 refugees from Zhou Dynasty every year. A large number of people need to be resettled, which is also a headache for state officials. Fortunately,
, there is still a lot of wasteland in Jinju, and Jinju is a temporary capital that requires a lot of labor, so the refugees who could not be resettled were evacuated to the Jinju area. These refugees who fled from various places in Daesu, ten
There were not even four left who could make it to the destination alive. Entire families died of starvation, exhaustion, and illness along the way.
Even after arriving in Qinzhou, Liaozhou and other places, they would be helpless to find that although the prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty were peaceful and prosperous, they were already overcrowded. In order to make a living, they started their journey again under the guidance of the officials of the Han Dynasty. It is undeniable that
Yes, even if the officials of the Han Dynasty gave them rations and some money, less than half of them could make it to Jinzhou alive. The wars in these years have led to a large-scale reduction in the population of the Central Plains. Take Cangzhou for example.
He said that originally there were no less than 600,000 people, but now Cangzhou has less than 200,000 people.
A large number of people have been displaced, resulting in a large number of fields being barren. Every year, weeds spread like crazy to the surrounding areas. If a passing army or homeless person lights a wildfire, it can burn hundreds of miles away. The grass becomes ashes.
With nutrients, the fields become more fertile, and in the next spring, the weeds will grow more lush. They have occupied the home of wheat, and the golden wheat that is the main ration of the people seems to have not appeared for a long time.
Black Panther Po Enemy kept digging into the grass in the dark night, and from time to time he would jump back with a half-dead wild animal in his mouth and throw it to the knight on horseback. It took the war horse a long time to adapt to the dangerous smell of Po Enemy, but he also
They didn't dare to get too close. As the enemy jumped out again and again, the cavalry team would have small commotions again and again. Fortunately, the horses were all wearing bits and could not scream in panic.
Liu Ling rode the red lion and shouted twice at the black panther. The enemy reluctantly followed the red lion, but never got into the grass again. Dozens of the cavalry beside Liu Ling were from the Supervisory Yuan.
Tiqi, as well as hundreds of soldiers, are already very familiar with defeating the enemy, and their horses perform much better than other cavalry horses when facing the enemy.
Marching in the dark night, the team's speed seemed extremely fast.
After more than twenty miles out of Cangzhou, the Tiqi from the Supervisory Council began to leave the team and separated on the two wings of the team. Their mission was to kill Khitan scouts if they appeared.
After marching for two hours, Cangzhou City was already far behind. Liu Ling estimated the distance and found that the distance from Yang Ye's oncoming army would definitely not be more than fifty miles away. He ordered the horses and horses to rest, and Liu Ling restrained the red lion.
Then start observing the terrain.
There is a forest in the distance that is not too big. There is no problem in hiding three thousand men and horses, but it is absolutely impossible to hide the tracks of tens of thousands of troops. Liu Ling came all the way, and the reason why he chose to stop at this place is because
He found that this was the most suitable place for an ambush along the road.
Although it is still a flat river, and although there are still tall grasses on both sides of the official road, the difference is that this is the closest to Fuyuan Canal. The official road has a gentle curve here, and the closest point is only a few hundred meters away from Fuyuan Canal.
If a surprise force is ambushed on the other side, and Yang Ye's men arrive and launch a surprise attack, the Han army will be in panic and can only retreat to the Fuyuan Canal. Behind it is the river, which can be said to be a half-dead place. The Khitans are good at ambush and surprise attacks.
, this is undoubtedly the best place.
The west side of the official road is the river, and the east side is the endless wilderness and the forest that looks eerie in the night.
Liu Ling rode around in a circle. At this time, Tiqi from the Overwatch Council came over and reported that there was a small lake three miles away from the east side of the official road. The lake was not big, only about two or three miles in radius. Liu Ling laughed.
Laugh, is this a gift from God?
He personally went to see the Xiaohu, and sent someone to test the lake water. He found that the lake was actually very deep, and there were even large fish that had grown to half a meter long in the lake. The fertile soil was barren, but these wild animals lived freely.
Already.
To the east of the lake is an abandoned village. The size of the village seems to be quite large. After Liu Ling checked, he found that there were almost 500 households. This is already a rare large village. At its peak, there should be 3,000 people.
Up and down. But now it is full of ruins and ruins. I don’t know whether it was plundered by horse bandits or suffered a military disaster.
The lake is not far from the village, only a ten-minute walk.
Liu Ling stopped in front of a courtyard at the edge of the village that seemed to be relatively tall and well-preserved. He looked specifically at the thick and lush weeping willow tree at the entrance of the courtyard. There was a stone table under the weeping willow and several round stone benches scattered around it.
Liu Ling even walked over, lifted up a round stone stool and placed it beside the table. He sat down facing the lake with his back against the big willow tree. It felt good.
Liu Ling smiled, feeling very comfortable.
To the north of the lake, there is a high slope. There are no trees on the high slope, so it cannot hide people.
After observing the terrain, Liu Ling ordered three thousand men and horses to be sent to the back of the high slope to the north of the lake. Then he ordered the remaining soldiers to unpack their bags and put a yellow powder into them.
The powder was sprinkled along the east side of the official road. There was not much powder, because although the Fifth Branch of the Overwatch Council was a department specialized in developing equipment, the things that could be brought north this time were really limited. However, it was enough.
Next, Liu Ling ordered officials from the Fifth Division of the Supervisory Yuan to take out many bottles from their backpacks and dump the contents into the lake. After a while, dead fish began to surface one by one on the lake. From this,
It can be seen how toxic the liquid in this bottle is. Fortunately, the fish in the lake are very big, but the number is not particularly large. This is a dead lake. It can escape the fishing of waves of refugees, and the rest are almost mature.
They are old fish, so they are unlucky. Who told Liu Ling to choose this lake?
After everything was prepared, the white color of fish belly also appeared in the east. The white color was exactly the same as the belly of an old fish turned over on the water.
Liu Ling ordered the soldiers who had not rested all night to evacuate here, mounted their war horses, and walked eastward, hiding about three miles away from the lake. Observation posts were left on the high slopes and in the ruined village, and Liu Ling took the
The soldiers and people from the Overwatch Council also left here.
The team was divided into three groups. One group of 2,000 people was led by Zhao Ba and ambush in the southeast. The other group of 2,000 people was led by Situ Zhengcheng and ambush in the northeast. Liu Ling himself, with the main force, ambush in the east.
After they were dispatched, in the dim morning light, they saw faint fire coming from the direction of Cangzhou City in the distance.
Liu Ling's expression did not change at all. He looked in the direction of Cangzhou City with his hands behind his hands and muttered something. Even the guard closest to him did not hear clearly what the three words Liu Ling said because,
These three words will float far and wide, floating in the sky above Cangzhou City. I hope that the people in Cangzhou City who are facing the crazy attack of the Khitan people at last will be blessed.
Live.
He said.
The sky will always be bright. When the sun rises, who knows who will receive the first ray of blessing? (To be continued)
