Liu Yan smiled bitterly and said: "But Gongsun has no real evidence. Everything he said is just speculation. The captain does not believe what he said."
Liu Xiu asked: "What about eldest brother? Doesn't eldest brother believe what he said?"
Liu Yan was silent for a moment and said: "There are eight thousand county troops, plus one thousand of our troops, nearly ten thousand people. Even if there are as many as two or three thousand barbarians in Ganyou Mountain, our advantage in this battle is still huge. Could it be? , can the strength of the barbarian soldiers exceed two or three thousand?"
Liu Xiu frowned and said meaningfully: "If we go by Brother Gongsun's guess, even two or three thousand are at least two or three thousand, and it may even reach two to thirty thousand."
"Impossible! If so many people are hiding in the mountains, what will they eat? What will they drink?"
"There are naturally streams to drink in the mountains. As for food, haven't the barbarians been harassing the people around the county? Even if the food they robbed is not enough, they will rob people to eat."
Liu Xiu still has fresh memories of the brutality of the barbarian soldiers and the scenes of roasting people and sharing their food.
Liu Yan was silent for a moment and said: "Now that the military order has been issued, I can't help but obey!" After a moment, he said: "Tomorrow's battle, Axiu, don't go, stay here honestly. In the military camp!”
"If the eldest brother doesn't go, I won't go. If the eldest brother wants to go, I will crawl over even if my legs are broken!" Liu Xiu said seriously.
His words made Liu Yan feel heartbroken and helpless.
He sighed and was about to speak, but Liu Xiu said first: "Brothers fight, father and son go into battle. I came to Yizhou with my eldest brother. I can't let my eldest brother be alone on the battlefield while I hide in the military camp!"
After a pause, he whispered again: "My eldest brother used to take care of me, but now that I have grown up, I should share the burden for him!"
A soft light flashed in Liu Yan's eyes, he caressed Liu Xiu's shoulder, and said with emotion: "My little brother has grown up! Okay, tomorrow Axiu will go into battle with my eldest brother!"
Looking at the two brothers Liu Yan and Liu Xiu, Zhu Yun's face was full of envy. There is nothing better than this.
The next morning, the county army headed by Captain Tang Heng, the Xiangyang rebels led by Liu Yan, and two thousand local rebels from Hanzhong, totaling more than 10,000 troops, marched toward Qianyou Mountain in a mighty manner.
The battle of Ganyou also kicked off.
Liu Yan remembered Feng Yi's warning. He did not lead his troops at the front, but followed the county army. The Hanzhong rebels were leading the charge.
The leader of the Hanzhong Rebel Army is named Du You, who is the military commander of the county.
There are six Cao Cao under the county government, namely Gong Cao, Cang Cao, Hu Cao, Bing Cao, Fa Cao, and Shi Cao. The official in charge of each Cao is named Cao Yu, and his deputy is Cao Shi.
To put it bluntly, Du You is the second-in-command of the Hanzhong County Bingcao.
Du You led two thousand Hanzhong rebels and marched in a hurry. At Youshi, that is, at five o'clock in the afternoon, they finally arrived at Qianyou Mountain.
Ganyou Mountain is not an isolated mountain, but a large mountain range. Looking around, mountains are connected to mountains, forests are connected to forests, green and green, and you can’t see the edge at a glance.
When they got close to the mountain forest, Du You ordered to stop.
He was riding on the horse and looked around. Wherever he could see, there were dense mountains and forests. In such a large mountain forest, even if there were more than 500 people hiding there, not to mention more than 500 people, he would not be able to find it!
On the one hand, he sent spies to go into the forest to investigate, and at the same time, he also sent people to the back to consult Captain Tang Heng on whether his army should enter the forest.
Before the people who went to report the news came back, several spies who entered the forest ran out first, shouting as they ran: "Sir, there are barbarians! There are barbarians in the forest -"
As soon as the spies ran out of the woods, a dozen barbarians wearing animal skins and holding scimitars and spears chased out from behind.
When Du You saw this, without saying a word, he waved his sword forward and shouted: "Meet the enemy!"
Following his order, two thousand rebels surged forward like a tide. The dozen or so barbarian soldiers who chased them out of the forest obviously did not expect that there were so many enemies outside, and they were stunned and frightened for a moment.
By the time they came to their senses, it was already too late to run away. A group of cavalry from the rebel army came to them in just a blink of an eye. As they passed by, a spear was thrust out, and the spearhead was on the chest of the barbarian soldier. Penetrate and poke out from behind.
The combat power of the Hanzhong Rebel Army is really quite strong. Since its formation, it has been stationed in the county and received training from the county army. There are even cavalry among the Hanzhong Rebel Army. You must know that Liu Yan's army has thousands of people, and even There were no horses to pull the baggage, let alone war horses to equip the cavalry.
Not a single one of the dozen or so barbarian soldiers escaped, but were completely killed by the cavalry team that rushed up. This was not a battle at all, but a completely one-sided massacre.
The dozens of horsemen who rushed over turned their horses and ran back to the bodies of the barbarians. They jumped off their horses one by one, pulled out the sabers under their ribs, cut off the heads of the barbarians, and tied them to the saddles.
A head is a military merit, and one can go to the county government to receive a reward. Of course, people will not let it go, and some even push each other and yell at each other in order to fight for the head of a barbarian soldier.
When Du You saw this, he couldn't help but chuckle. He thought the barbarian soldiers hiding in Qianyou Mountain were so powerful. But now, looking at it, they were nothing more than that. They were just a group of stragglers who were dispersed by the capital army and fled to Qianyou Mountain in a panic. That's all.
Before Tang Heng's order could be conveyed, Du You waved his hand and shouted: "Enter the entire army into the forest to hunt down the remaining barbarians!"
After a confrontation, the morale of the Hanzhong rebels also improved, and people rushed into the woods shouting.
There were still some barbarian soldiers in the forest. It could be seen that at this time, the barbarian soldiers were preparing to eat and had even lit a bonfire. However, at this time, the Hanzhong rebels suddenly came and killed them.
There were too many rebels, and the strength of both sides was completely disproportionate. Most of the barbarian soldiers did not dare to fight, threw down their food, turned around and ran away. Only a few barbarian soldiers still took up arms to resist the rebel attack, but in the face of the enemy, When I was widowed, they were quickly killed in a pool of blood.
Du You led his troops into the mountains and forests, and the news soon spread back to Tang Heng.
After hearing the report, Tang Heng couldn't help but frown secretly. It was already past the You hour, and the sky was about to get dark. Entering the mountains and forests to fight at this time would be very disadvantageous for his own side.
But soon, news came that Du You led the rebel army into Qianyou Mountain, fought and won consecutive battles, and defeated the barbarians hiding in the forest. The army was completely defeated.
The battle report Du You sent back was too watery. In fact, the total number of barbarians encountered by the Hanzhong Rebel Army was less than a hundred. The number of barbarians they killed was only more than 20 people at best. Only this number of barbarians , how can it be called an army?
However, after hearing the battle report from the front, Tang Heng was overjoyed. He said that the main force of the barbarian army could not be in Qianyou Mountain. There were only a few hundred barbarian soldiers hiding here at best.
Tang Heng ordered to march at full speed and be sure to kill all the barbarians hiding in Ganyou Mountain without leaving any one behind.
During this period of time, he hated the barbarians who were appearing and disappearing near the county town. This group of barbarians caused a lot of trouble in the area around the county town. Countless people were injured, killed, and missing. He was reprimanded several times by the prefect for this.
This time he finally found the lair of this group of barbarian soldiers. If he didn't kill them all, it would be difficult to eliminate the hatred in his heart.
The Hanzhong rebels went first, followed by the county troops, and entered the mountains and forests one after another to encircle and suppress the barbarians. The Xiangyang rebels who were walking at the rear stopped near the mountains and forests.
Liu Xiu raised his eyes to look at the sky. The sun was setting in the west, and there were red flaming clouds on the horizon.
He said to Liu Yan: "Brother, it will get dark soon. Isn't it too hasty to chase into the forest at this time?" Although Liu Xiu had never read the art of war, he also knew the principle of not pursuing a poor enemy.
What's more, the barbarians have lived in the mountains and forests for many years and made a living by hunting. They are too familiar with jungle warfare. On the contrary, our own side is not good at fighting in the jungle, especially the cavalry in the county army. They cannot use the cavalry at all. The power of sudden advance.
Liu Yan nodded. He also felt that Tang Heng was too hasty. The barbarian soldiers had been hiding in Qianyou Mountain for who knows how many days. They were already familiar with every plant and tree here. He entered rashly, and it was going to be dark soon. Too dangerous.
When he was hesitating whether he should lead his army to follow up, a county army cavalry ran out from the woods ahead. This man urged his horse to come to Liu Yan, casually raised his hand, and said loudly: "Liu Yan, Lord Commander." I order you to lead your troops to follow up immediately."
After passing the message, the cavalryman didn't even look at Liu Yan, turned his horse's head, and hurried back into the woods, as if he was afraid that if he returned too late, others would take away all his military achievements.
Liu Yan narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "It seems that the war is going very smoothly, Axiu, if we don't go in, we may not even be able to grab any leftovers!"
Liu Xiu frowned and remained silent. His intuition told him that Feng Yi's speculation was by no means unfounded, but the current war was indeed going well, and now Liu Xiu was a little undecided.
Liu Yan no longer hesitated and shouted to the left and right: "Command brothers, go into the mountains and forests, cooperate with the county army, and encircle and suppress the barbarians!"
With the entry of Liu Yan's troops, all the 11,000 troops dispatched from the county and city have entered the mountains and forests of Qianyou Mountain.
It was still daylight now, and the war was indeed progressing smoothly. Liu Xiu followed Liu Yan and others as they walked forward. From time to time, they could see the bodies of barbarian soldiers left on the ground. Without exception, all the heads of the barbarian soldiers had been cut off. It fell, leaving only a headless body.
Liu Yan's face showed excitement, and he gradually quickened his pace to catch up with the county army.
They went deep into the forest for more than an hour. It was getting dark, but there were still many fleeing barbarians in front of them.
Tang Heng ordered the entire army to rest temporarily in the forest, make torches at the same time, and prepare to search the mountain overnight to catch all the fleeing barbarians.
Liu Xiu cut off a tree branch as thick as his wrist, wrapped a strip of oily cloth around it, and lit it on fire.
He walked up to Liu Yan and said: "Brother, searching the mountain all night has little effect. Can you suggest to the captain that we temporarily withdraw to camp outside the forest and wait until dawn tomorrow to search the mountain again?"
Liu Yan sneered and said: "Master Tang is obviously in high spirits now. If I ask him to withdraw from Qianyou Mountain at this time, it would be strange if he would listen to me!"
Liu Xiu said quietly: "I always feel that Brother Gongsun's speculation is reasonable..."
