In the afternoon, the grain protection army changed its formation again. Li Xu, who was originally the rear guard, and his troops were moved to the front of the team. The recruits who were originally guarding the center of the team dispersed among the grain transport team under flags made of grain bags.
On both sides of the army, Qian Jiulong and Fan Xing each led a team of Li Mansion veterans to serve as scouts, keeping a distance of about two miles from the main team. Liu Hongji's order to them was to immediately attack any enemy scouts who were alone.
Kill. When encountering a large group of rangers, return quickly while warning, waiting for the army to come for support.
At the same time, the food protection army adjusted its marching speed and no longer immersed itself in the road. Instead, it put on a posture of being ready to fight the enemy at any time and slowly advanced along the Wugu River. The number of horses in this team was enough to match the number of people.
Four times the number, it was already very impressive. After Liu Hongji and others made deliberate adjustments, it immediately became more arrogant. From a distance, it looked like there was a cavalry of over 10,000 people marching. No matter who stood in front of them, they would be defeated.
Crush it to pieces.
This deceitful trick indeed deceived many people. From afternoon to sunset, the food guard army encountered at least three groups of Goguryeo soldiers numbering no less than 500. Each time, the other party was frightened when they saw the Sui army's banners all over the river beach.
As for walking, no team dared to open up their formation to test the true strength of the cavalry.
"The Goguryeo people seem to be new recruits too!" Li Xu muttered secretly as he looked at the enemy soldiers who were fleeing in the distance and didn't even dare to look back to pick up the fallen battle flags.
"They are all from nearby tribes. They disappeared without a trace. Now they see the advantage and come back to fight with the wind!" Yu Wenzhong angrily explained to Li Xu why the blockers did not dare to fight.
It turns out that there are many tribes in Liaodong, and many tribes are nominally under the jurisdiction of the King of Goguryeo. In fact, they do not listen to anyone's orders. When the expeditionary army passed through various places, these tribes turned away. Now that the news of the Sui army's defeat has spread, of course they have to fight.
In the name of Goguryeo, they rushed forward to fish in troubled waters. Such a tribe would definitely not have the courage to step forward to fight when they saw tens of thousands of regular troops. Therefore, Liu Hongji's trick of suspecting soldiers was used at the right time, even if he did not deceive Wugu City
The defenders at least had the effect of avoiding harassment by tribes along the way.
At noon the next day, this massive "iron cavalry" arrived near Wugu City. The defenders of Wugu City, who had been seriously injured a month ago, did not have the courage to cross the river to intercept them. Across the river, they moved all the people in the city.
The gate was tightly closed, and the soldiers climbed up the city wall, unwrapped the bowstring of the crossbow, and aimed the huge crossbow arrows at the river beach facing the north gate. If the Sui army stormed the city, it would be their first place after crossing the river.
Once a foothold is reached, the defenders can guarantee that the opponent will have to sacrifice thousands of lives in order to seize this river beach.
To the great relief of the defenders, this army, which was composed entirely of cavalry and carried at least a hundred brigade flags, had no idea of crossing the river. After stopping on the other side of the river for a while, they turned to the direction of Bobu Village.
.The moment the enemy troops retreated, the keen-eyed lookout noticed that there seemed to be some space among the cavalry. He was eager to make a contribution and immediately reported this observation to the newly appointed general.
"General, shall we pursue him or not?" The lookout held a sword in his hand, eager for the general to give a definite answer. Starting from the day before yesterday, the companions who went out of the city to intercept the remaining soldiers of the Sui Dynasty each gained a lot. Those officers and soldiers of the Sui Dynasty
Although he was as hungry as a sheep and had no power to fight back, the armor on his body and the horizontal sword on his waist were genuine. Compared with the "unique weapons" that each person in Goguryeo prepared for himself, the Ministry of Industry of the Sui Dynasty made them uniformly.
I don’t know how many times better weapons are.
"Pah!" The general responded to the watchman's attentiveness with a loud slap. The newly appointed general slapped him and cursed loudly: "Grandma, why don't you have a long memory? I listened to what you said last time. General Gao went to chase the enemy, but fell into their trap. This time they deliberately showed weakness, and you actually wanted to trick me into sending myself to death..."
More than 10,000 soldiers woke up as if from a dream, looking at the direction where the smoke and dust were retreating, admiring the judgment of their commander.
After passing Wugu City, the remains of the fallen soldiers of the Sui Dynasty began to appear on the riverbank. Everyone was stripped naked, and their emaciated bodies revealed the truth about their lack of food. Liu Hongji did not allow the team to stop to collect the bodies of the dead, but ordered The army quickened its pace. Bobi Village was almost here, and the answer everyone was looking forward to was already right in front of them.
The closer they got to Mazhaishui, the more Goguryeo stragglers the army encountered. Each team only had a few dozen people, and each team was fighting happily. When they suddenly saw a team under the banner of the Sui Dynasty, many Goguryeo soldiers were shocked. They were stunned. Some of them even raised their knives desperately and rushed towards Li Xu's horse head. Naturally, they were greeted by a dense wave of arrows. The Goguryeo soldiers fell down in shock. They couldn't believe this until they died. At that time, there was still a fighting force of Sui soldiers and horses.
The small victory did not make everyone feel happy at all. The more lax the Goguryeo people's vigilance became, the more it showed the difference in the situation of the Sui Expeditionary Force. Everyone speeded up and moved forward, and after walking for more than ten miles, they suddenly saw the front A thick plume of smoke rose up.
Before Liu Hongji could ask, Fan Xing, who was serving as a scout, ran back and reported the latest enemy situation, "General Qi, there is a group of Goguryeo infantry in front, less than five hundred, and they seem to be cooking!"
"Zhongjian, lead a team around and chop them all down, don't let any one go!" Liu Hongji ordered decisively.
Li Xu heard the order and immediately led his men and horses to rush forward. Hearing the fierce sound of horse hooves, the Goguryeo infantry quickly stood up to fight. How could the same number of infantry be the opponent of the cavalry? Before Liu Hongji could lead the group of men and horses to get closer, the Goguryeo infantry had already The army was defeated.
The warriors Xun and Li Liang led their cavalry to catch up from behind and cut down the fleeing Goguryeo infantry one by one. Gao Xiang, the third brigade under Li Xu, was newly promoted by him. Not long after he took office, he also He didn’t quite understand the character of his general, so he didn’t participate in the pursuit of the enemy. Instead, he led dozens of soldiers to clean up the battlefield. While he was concentrating on cleaning up the baggage abandoned by the enemy, he suddenly discovered a fire where the Goguryeo people were cooking. Something moved nearby.
"Protect your lord!" Gao Xiang was startled and quickly moved his horse's head in front of Li Xu. Several veterans rushed forward and picked up a squirming "monster" from the soil next to the fire.
It's a human! Li Xulu was stunned for a moment. Then, a nauseating feeling rushed into his throat. The monster was a human, but it had lost its human appearance. The group of Goguryeo soldiers just cut off his hands and feet. , leaving only one dying life for them to enjoy.
"Bring water!" Li Xu jumped off the horse and resisted the rolling feeling in his stomach to take the survivor from the soldier's hands. This man was undoubtedly a defeated soldier of the Sui Dynasty, but his eyes were already scattered and he could not recognize his own soldier. banner.
"Porridge, porridge, give me porridge to drink. Please, let me be a full ghost!" The rescued man squirmed in Li Xu's arms and murmured. No matter what Li Xu asked, he always said this.
"Where is the army? Where is the army? Where is General Xin? Where is General Xin Shixiong?" Yu Wenzhong recognized from the soldiers' uniforms that they belonged to Zuotunwei, jumped off the horse, hugged the opponent's body and asked.
"Porridge, give me some porridge to drink. If you ask me anything, I'll tell you everything!" The rescued soldier looked at Yu Wenzhong with dull eyes and murmured a prayer.
Qian Jiulong ordered someone to put the dry food in water and mash it into a paste, hold it with an iron fist, and bring it to the rescued person. The aroma of the food that instantly wafted out immediately cheered up the man, and he immediately opened his mouth and bit it firmly.
The edge of the iron bowl.
"And, and let me feed you!" Qian Jiulong shouted loudly. But the man refused to listen to him. He made loud noises in his mouth and sucked the paste into his mouth as quickly as possible.
Someone brought a piece of felt, and Li Xu gently placed the injured person on the felt. Then he asked for another bowl of paste, and fed it into the injured person's mouth one spoonful at a time. He hadn't eaten for how many days.
This man bit down on the copper key several times. Every time his teeth collided with the copper key, his eyes would light up, jump like a will-o'-the-wisp, and then quickly dim again.
After the sixth bowl of glutinous rice was consumed, the injured man finally regained his composure. He moved his head slightly, touched the copper spoon that Li Xu had stretched out to one side, and then asked in a breathy voice: "You, you
Are they from the Sui Dynasty? It's your Majesty. His Majesty sent you to save us, right?"
"We are the food guarding army of the Sui Dynasty, and we have been ordered to deliver food! Where is the army? Where are they?" Li Xu put down the copper key and asked eagerly.
"Army?" The injured man was mumbling in his sleep, trying hard to think about Li Xu's question. Suddenly, he laughed softly. The smile on his dirty face looked so weird.
"The army is right in front of you, isn't it?" he replied with a smile, as if he had discovered something very interesting. Suddenly, his smile stopped, and his head hung softly to the side.
Suddenly there was only the sound of wind in the world. "The army is in front of you!" Everyone heard the answer. The Eastern Expedition army collapsed. This is an indisputable fact. And now, the food protection team is far away from them.
The final destination of Boli Village is already less than twenty miles away!
"Bury him!" Liu Hongji stepped forward and ordered in a low voice. At this time, he was also confused and didn't know whether to continue leading the grain transport team forward or to retreat quickly. Now, there are two options
The result is basically not much different. Regardless of whether they are moving forward or backward, the Goguryeo people who have completely annihilated the expeditionary army will soon surround them like a pack of wolves smelling blood.
"Report to the general, there is a battle two miles ahead on the left. Goguryeo soldiers are besieging a forest. The number does not exceed fifty!" Just when everyone was unable to make a decision, Fan Xing, who was serving as a scout, ran back and reported loudly.
"Kill them and save each one as one!" Liu Hongji ordered without hesitation.
The cavalrymen, who were feeling depressed in their hearts, immediately rushed over and chopped down the Goguryeo men like melons and vegetables. The two stunned Goguryeo men panicked and plunged into the woods before rushing out.
In less than ten steps, two feather arrows flew out in front of them, pinning them to the ground one by one.
"Who are those in the woods? The Great Sui Colonel Li Xu is here!" Li Xu put his hands on his mouth and shouted loudly. What everyone needs to know most now is whether the expeditionary force still exists and whether the people in the woods still have fighting ability.
, it’s like God sent him the information everyone needs.
"There are no more people, but there are still two starving ghosts!" A faint and strange reply came from the woods. Immediately afterwards, two guys dressed as hunters supported each other and stumbled out. Zhang Xiu took Li
Xu's personal soldier walked up to him and wanted to examine the other party's body, but he was pushed away roughly by the man. While pushing, the man cursed: "With my little strength, I can still move your captain.
Get out of the way, get out of the way, let me see who the savior is!"
After saying that, the man held onto the tree trunk next to him and tried to raise his head, revealing a face that Li Xu least wanted to see.
"Ha, I didn't expect you to be the one who saved me!" This man's face and lips were as pale as a ghost, and there was only one tongue, which was still bright red and moving in his mouth.
"I didn't expect that it was you who saved me!" In an instant, Li Xu completely forgot about Liu Hongji's instructions that day, and counterattacked with a mixture of joy and anger. (To be continued)
