Liu Xiu waved his hands to everyone and said, "Stop talking. When I come back, I will explain to my elder brother that even if I have to be punished, I will bear it!" As he spoke, he nodded to Ma Wu and Yao Qi.
Ma Wu and Yao Qi didn't say anything. They both walked out of the tent and went outside to select a thousand elites.
There are a total of 2,000 horses in the heroic cavalry army. According to Liu Xiu's plan, one thousand people are to be taken away. However, not one of the 2,000 horses can be left behind. All of them must be taken away.
After Ma Wu and Yao Qi were ready, Liu Xiu said to Deng Yu, Feng Yi, Gai Yan and others: "Zhonghua, you stay in Huyang and assist my elder brother!"
"Lord!" Deng Yu, Feng Yi, and Gai Yan were all anxious. How could they not participate in such an important and dangerous operation?
Because it was too dangerous, Liu Xiucai couldn't bring everyone with him. He had to at least leave a few capable helpers for his eldest brother.
Liu Xiu said seriously: "You all stay, I have decided!" As he spoke, he said meaningfully to Deng Yu: "During my absence, Zhonghua will do his best to assist my elder brother, please!"
There were not many people in Zhu Tiandu who were good at strategy, and Deng Yu was considered one of the best.
Hearing Liu Xiu's words, Deng Yu felt sad. He bowed his hands to Liu Xiu and said, "My lord, my subordinates are waiting for your triumphant return in Xinye!"
Liu Xiu smiled at Deng Yu, patted his shoulder again, turned and walked out. Jiu'er and Xu Xiling both followed him out, saying in unison: "Lord, I'll go with you!"
"You two stay!" Liu Xiu looked at Jiu'er and said, "Brother, we need you to provide intelligence and to grasp the movements of the county army in a timely manner. Jiu'er, you must stay!"
Jiu'er wanted to speak, but when she saw Liu Xiu's determined eyes, she swallowed and swallowed back the words that came to her lips. Xu Xiling asked: "Master, where am I?"
"You?" Liu Xiu never considered Xu Xiling at all. How could she, a young lady with a delicate body, be able to run long distances or charge into battle on the battlefield?
When Xu Xiling asked this question, Liu Xiu was stunned. He hesitated for a moment, then made a sound and said seriously: "Xiling, you can leave with my sister-in-law, second sister, and little sister tomorrow!"
The implication is that he included her among his own female relatives.
Xu Xiling was almost angry. She was not a rich lady who couldn't lift her hands or bear her shoulders, but a person from the martial arts world who had been learning from a teacher since she was a child. She didn't argue with Liu Xiu, but just agreed obediently.
No more words.
Liu Xiu walked out of the tent, without delaying for a moment, jumped on his horse, took Ma Wu, Yao Qi, Zhu You, Fu Jun and a thousand cavalry troops and headed straight for the north city gate.
The military camp was originally located in the North City, very close to the North City Gate. When they arrived at the North City Gate, the soldiers guarding the city gate immediately came forward to block their way.
Seeing so many cavalry leaving the city, and people sitting on a war horse and leading an empty horse, they all looked puzzled.
A soldier took two steps forward and asked, "My cavalry brothers want to leave the city. Do you have the general's handwriting?"
"Without the general's decree, we can't leave the city?" Liu Xiu urged Wu Zui on his crotch and came to the head of the soldier, looking at him condescendingly with an expressionless face.
The soldier naturally knew Liu Xiu. When he saw him, he hurriedly bowed and saluted, and intervened, saying: "The villain pays homage to the partial general!"
"Get out of the way quickly! We have urgent military matters and must leave the city immediately!"
"But..." The soldier was still thinking about the order, so Liu Xiu deliberately raised his hand, held the Chixiao Sword under his ribs, and asked, "How dare you disobey the order?"
The soldier was so frightened that he didn't dare to say another word. While retreating to the side, he waved to the soldiers behind him and said: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way! Make way for the general!"
The soldiers guarding the city gate moved away to resist the horse, and then retreated to both sides. Liu Xiu knocked the horse's belly with both feet, urging the horse to run out of the city gate. Ma Wu, Yao Qi and others followed closely behind, and a large group of cavalry roared.
ran out of Huyang City.
When they got outside, they had just walked a short distance before several riders caught up with them. When Liu Xiu and others looked back, they saw that it was Xu Xiling and the four maids beside her who were chasing them.
Seeing them, Liu Xiu frowned. When Xu Xiling rode up to him, he asked displeasedly: "Xiling, didn't I ask you to stay in Huyang?"
Xu Xiling said sternly: "As a subordinate of the lord, Xi Ling is going to war, how can Xi Ling stay at home?"
Liu Xiu said in a deep voice: "What nonsense! You are a girl, why are you running around with us? Go back quickly!"
"Even if the master kidnaps me and takes me back now, I will still sneak out again!"
Seeing that Liu Xiu was so angry that she glared at him, Xu Xiling said slowly: "The military situation is urgent. Instead of wasting time on Xi Ling, my lord, it is better to hurry up and get on your way!"
Liu Xiu choked on Xu Xiling's words and almost rolled his eyes. He raised his finger and pointed at Xu Xiling and said: "I'll settle the score with you later!" As he spoke, he shouted to the left and right: "Let's go!"
More than a thousand cavalry led by Liu Xiu, after leaving Huyang City, rushed northwest and headed straight for Huiyang.
Within the team, Xu Xiling quickly made a difference.
In the past, she often traveled with her master and was very familiar with the terrain of Nanyang County. Under her guidance, Liu Xiu and others took small paths and took shortcuts, saving a lot of time.
They ran all the way, and by the time it got dark, they had successfully crossed the Bi River.
They were able to cross the river so quickly thanks to Xu Xiling's guidance. Xu Xiling found a place for them to talk. They crossed the river on horseback.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Liu Xiu ordered the whole army to stop and take a rest. Liu Xiu sat on a stone, quickly ate a piece of dry food, two pieces of bacon, and drank half a bottle of water, feeling that his strength had recovered.
After a while, he walked to Xu Xiling's side, looked at the five of them, and asked: "How are you doing? Can you still persist?"
The four maids, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, shook their heads together and said in unison: "Master, I'm not tired!"
Xu Xiling had taken off her face towel at this time, her face was flushed, and her forehead and the tip of her nose were covered with a thin layer of sweat.
Although she had been practicing martial arts since she was a child, it was impossible for her not to be tired after running so far in one breath. She smiled at Liu Xiu and said, "Thank you for your concern, my lord. Xi Ling can just rest for a while."
Liu Xiu sat down next to her and said quietly: "We will replace the horses in the middle of the night. At that time, a group of brothers will take the replaced horses back to Huyang. You can go back with them!"
Xu Xiling frowned slightly and said: "If the lord could not trust Xi Ling so much, the lord should not have recruited Xi Ling into his army in the first place! Now that he has recruited Xi Ling into his army, the lord should treat everyone equally!"
Liu Xiu looked at Xu Xiling, who had a stubborn temper, and then at the four maids who were equally stubborn as her. She shook her head helplessly, stood up, and walked to the grassland not far away. As soon as Liu Xiu left, Ma Wu
He came over with a curious look on his face and asked in a low voice: "Sister, what did the Lord say to you just now?"
Xu Xiling smiled and said: "Brother Ma, my lord wants me to return to Huyang!"
Ma Wu nodded and agreed: "Fighting is a man's business, you shouldn't come with me!"
Xu Xiling curled her lips and said, "I don't think we are inferior to men!"
Ma Wu was amused by her and said, "My lord, it's for your own good too!"
Xu Xiling said: "I know, but I think I can help if I stay in the army!"
Ma Wu looked at Xu Xiling with a look of admiration on his face. Normally, he didn't think highly of the girl's family, but Xu Xiling made him look at her with admiration.
He turned his head and looked aside and saw Liu Xiu pulling weeds. He walked over to Liu Xiu and followed him to pull weeds. At the same time, he said: "My lord, at this speed, we will arrive in Juiyang at noon tomorrow."
East Coast.”
Liu Xiu nodded and casually held a grass stalk in his mouth. Ma Wu asked: "My Lord, how many troops will the county army have to cross the Feishui River and reach the east bank by noon tomorrow?"
"Maybe more than a thousand people, maybe two or three thousand people!" It's really hard to judge.
When the county army goes out on an expedition, it always carries a lot of supplies. It is impossible for all the county troops to cross the Feishui River and leave the supplies in Juoyang.
It must be that a group of troops must be ferried first, and then the people and supplies must be transported together. In this way, the speed of transporting troops to the other side will be greatly slowed down.
According to Liu Xiu's judgment, the current strength of the county army on the other side of Juiyang should be only about a thousand. As for how many there will be by noon tomorrow, it is hard to say.
After plucking a large handful of grass, Liu Xiu walked up to Wu Zhui and handed the grass to the horse's mouth.
He was feeding grass with one hand and caressing Wu Zhui's neck with the other hand, and said meaningfully: "If tomorrow's battle is successful, the main force of the county army can be blocked on the west bank of Feishui River, and our troops will have enough time to take the
If we can't succeed in going to Xinye and let the main force of the county army cross the Feishui River smoothly, our troops will be in danger."
Ma Wu nodded and said categorically: "Tomorrow's battle is a fight to the death! Either you succeed or you die!"
Liu Xiu smiled at Ma Wu. After feeding all the grass in his hands, Liu Xiu clapped his hands and said loudly to the people around him: "Everyone is almost rested! Get on the horse, let's continue to hurry!"
The group of them traveled through the night for another whole night. By the time it got daylight the next day, the team was already exhausted. Both the people and the horses had reached their physical limit.
Liu Xiu ordered that the entire army change their horses and take a break. Under Liu Xiu's order, people changed their horses one after another.
They originally only had about a thousand people, but now they had to divide up another hundred people and return to Huyang with a thousand horses. As a result, the remaining people were not even a thousand, but only about nine hundred people.
After resting for two-quarters of an hour, Liu Xiu and others mounted their horses again and continued to rush to the east bank of Juiyang.
When they were about to reach the east bank of Juiyang, Liu Xiu and others ran to a hidden place and dismounted to rest. In addition, he sent Fu Jun and several clever cavalry to investigate ahead.
Half an hour later, Fu Jun returned with several cavalrymen. Seeing Liu Xiu, Fu Jun squatted down and explained to Liu Xiu while scratching the ground with a stone.
On the other side of Juiyang, close to the river, is a large open space. On the outside of the open space, there are lush woods.
The county army set up checkpoints in the forest, but there were not many of them, so Fu Jun and others successfully avoided those checkpoints without much effort.
At present, there are already a large number of county troops crossing the Feishui River. Judging from the camps set up by the river, it is estimated that there are no less than 2,000 soldiers.
Observing the flags in the camp, it can be judged that among the two thousand people, some should be soldiers from Juoyang County. As for the river in Juishui, ships of various sizes are constantly coming and going, transporting supplies and troops from Juoyang.
to the east coast.
This is what Fu Jun and others saw.
After hearing this, Liu Xiu thought deeply for a moment and asked, "Ziwei, do you have a way to get rid of all the county army sentries in the forest?"
