After thousands of elite Liang Army cavalry passed through and Juechen rushed to Yingzhou in the south, at the suggestion of veteran general Ma Rong, Ma Xun dispatched three lines of reconnaissance cavalry from Zaoyang.
Follow thousands of Liang cavalry all the way to see if this Liang cavalry goes directly to attack Yingzhou City, in case they take advantage of the lack of attention here, kill them with their carbine, and then turn back towards Zaoyang City.
Go all the way northeast to the southwest foot of Tongbai Mountain and see if there are any signs of Liang Jun passing there.
If Liang Jun wants to set up an ambush between Zaoyang and Suizhou, his troops to the north should pass through the southwest foot of Tongbai Mountain and enter the valleys and hills between Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain.
Even if you haven't noticed this before, even if thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers and horses have crossed the border, it is impossible not to leave traces.
Although Wen Ruilin speculated that this possibility was very slim, for the sake of caution, Ma Rong still suggested that the crown prince send more than a hundred scouts in this direction.
There is also a reconnaissance cavalry heading to the northwest along the Tangbai River to conduct reconnaissance. This is a key reconnaissance area for deciding where Tanzhou troops and horses will withdraw.
The Tang River and the Bai River are the two most important water systems in the Nanyang Basin. They originate from the eastern foothills of Funiu Mountain in Fangcheng County, and finally merge together in the northeast of Fancheng and flow into the Han River, also known as the Tang Bai River.
In addition to irrigating millions of acres of grain fields on the north bank of the Han River, it was also the most important waterway in the Nanyang Basin. However, with the frequent wars in the past century, people have abandoned their land and fled to the mountains and rivers on both sides of the Tang River and Bai River.
No one repaired the embankments, and the rivers overflowed and collapsed. The two rivers divided into dozens of large and small streams and merged into the Han River.
The water transportation of the Tanghe and Baihe rivers was completely abolished, and a long and narrow lake belt was formed that cut through the southern part of the Nanyang Basin.
If Liang Jun wanted to lay an ambush while Zaoyang soldiers and horses were fleeing to Xiangzhou City, their soldiers and horses should leave Tanghe County and go directly south along the east wing of this lake belt.
Facts have proved that Wen Ruilin's judgment was correct.
After Tanzhou reconnoitred Zaoyang City and drove more than sixty miles northwest, they encountered a large group of Liang troops heading south on the east wing of this lake belt.
In other words, the Tanzhou soldiers and horses retreated westward from Zaoyang. They may have just resisted the Han River, but before they could organize ships to cross the river, they would be overtaken by the Liang army heading south from the Tang River.
Although Du Chongtao had sent a military envoy from Xiangzhou City at this time, ordering Ma Xun's generals to withdraw westward in time if they could not hold on to Zaoyang City, and cross the Han River to Xiangzhou City to join the main force of the Xiangzhou Army, Ma Xun
How could it be possible to heed Du Chongtao's order at this time?
Ma Xun was worried that if they hesitated for a moment, Liang Jun, who was heading south from Tanghe County, might change direction at any time and head straight for Zaoyang.
He did not want to be trapped in Zaoyang City, and regardless of the difficulty and panic of marching at night, he ordered his troops and horses to leave Zaoyang City before dark and withdrew to Suizhou through the valley road between Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain.
Tanzhou's soldiers and horses decided to withdraw eastward. The reinforcements from other states totaled more than 4,000 soldiers and horses, plus seven or eight thousand civilians. Most of them wanted to stay away from right and wrong, seeing that they did not have to bear the risk of evacuating without authorization.
They all pretended to be deaf and dumb and followed Ma Xun to withdraw into Suizhou.
Only Zhong Yanhu, who joined the army in Jiangzhou, parted ways with Ma Xun in Zaoyang City, led his troops westward alone, and rushed to the Han River to withdraw, preparing to cross the river to Xiangzhou City.
They brought all the grain and grass supplies that could be transported by camel, and burned those that could not be transported by camel. Fourteen to five thousand people, plus two to three thousand mules and horses, meandered eastward in a chaotic mess.
Ma Xun had no intention of controlling him and found it difficult to control him, so he thought of withdrawing to Suizhou City as soon as possible and reorganizing it.
Go east out of Zaoyang City and take the valley road between Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain. One hundred miles to the east is Guangshui County, which Suizhou belongs to, and fifty miles to the southeast is the city of Suizhou.
The Liang army that went south along the east bank of the Tangbai River was also a mixture of cavalry and infantry, falling behind fifty or sixty miles away. Even if they were pursued in tandem, the Tanzhou soldiers and horses would have enough time to retreat to Guangshui at the southern foot of Tongbai Mountain.
county seat.
Ma Xun was still worried and walked at night, leaving almost all the reconnaissance cavalry behind him, fearing that Liang Jun might organize cavalry to pursue him from behind at any time.
The sky and the earth gradually became clearer under the morning light, and the dense forests in the distance were shrouded in the early morning mist and gradually became clearer.
The reconnaissance cavalry from the rear reported that except for the cavalry of more than a thousand Liang Jun troops stationed in Zaoyang City, there were no other soldiers and horses pursuing them, so Ma Xun breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, they were less than forty miles away from Guangshui City.
Ma Xun waded through a shallow stream and reined up his horse in front of a low hill. He looked back at the queue that was seven or eight miles long and frowned. Fortunately, the formation of the Tanzhou soldiers and horses in the front half of the team was relatively orderly.
Didn't embarrass him.
Ma Xun sent people to find Ma Rong, Wen Rui and others. He wanted to pass through the valley in the middle of Fenghuangling in the southeast and rush directly to Suizhou City.
Guangshui City is a county under Suizhou. Although it has been repaired in recent years, after all, the wall is low and the city is small. Compared with Suizhou City, which was built against the steep terrain at the northeastern foothills of Dahong Mountain, it is much worse. At the same time, Suizhou City is as a
In prefecture-governed areas, grain reserves are relatively abundant, and local military preparedness is much stronger than that of subordinate counties.
More than 10,000 soldiers and horses entered Suizhou City and joined the local defenders of Suizhou City. At least in the short term, they were not afraid of Liang Jun's ability to take Suizhou City by force.
No matter how the war situation in Jingxiang develops in the future, they will win the initiative to make both advances and retreats: if the Liang army is a paper tiger, they can cooperate with the main force of the Chu army to add insult to injury and compete for military glory; if the Liang army is strong and controls the power of Jingxiang, it is not the Chu army.
If the army can resist, it will be a good opportunity for Tanzhou to make peace with it and break away from the control of Da Chu.
"Okay, let's go to Suizhou City!" Wen Ruilin, Ma Rong and others also felt that after arriving in Suizhou City, they could relax a little.
Ma Xun ordered the whole army to cook in pots and rest for an hour before heading on their way. He and Wen Rui dismounted their horses, thinking that it would be a good thing to calm down and enjoy the scenery while the soldiers and horses were in a hurry, and it would be a good thing to spread the news.
Ma Rong shook his head and smiled bitterly. When he was about to send someone to contact the reinforcements from other states to rein in his troops, he suddenly saw dozens of Tanzhou scouts from the southeast heading towards this direction to attack their horses.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The dozens of scouts they sent out to search the road ahead ran back wildly, shouting loudly.
However, the wind roared across the mountains and forests. By the time Ma Xun, Wen Ruilin and others heard clearly what the dozen scout cavalry were shouting, hundreds of black-armored cavalry were already coming from a valley four or five miles away from the southeast.
It came out like a black torrent.
Seeing this scene, Ma Xun, Ma Rong, Wen Ruilin and others turned pale instantly, and their hands and feet could not help but tremble.
How can it be?
How could there be such an elite cavalry force of the Liang Army in the valley to the southeast?
Before they set off yesterday, they clearly sent more than a hundred cavalry to search the hills and mountains at the southwest foot of Tongbai Mountain. Could it be that these Liang cavalry flew over with wings and did not leave any traces?
"This is the cavalry that attacked Yingzhou yesterday. It must have crossed the Dahong Mountains in the south of Zaoyang last night to intercept us?" Wen Ruilin groaned in pain and said, "We fell into Liang Jun's plan.
bingo!"
Ma Xun's eyes suddenly turned black, and he felt panicked and short of breath.
Ma Rong calmed down a little. Just as Wen Ruilin said, Liang Jun could not have flown over the mountains at the southwest foot of Tongbai Mountain, nor could he have ambushed in the north of Dahong Mountain a few months ago.
In the valley at the foot of the mountain, it must be the thousands of cavalry who passed through Zaoyang yesterday. With a false shot, they crossed the Dahong Mountains all night and crossed here, waiting for them to get in.
Fell into a trap!
Although they sent out a reconnaissance cavalry yesterday to keep an eye on the movements of thousands of Liang Jun cavalry, the passage from the western foot of Dahong Mountain to the bank of the Hanshui River is relatively narrow, and there are Liang Jun cavalry all over the mountains and plains. Their reconnaissance cavalry can only stay far away
From the back, there is no way to go around to the front.
In fact, Liang Jun only needed to leave one or two thousand cavalry to block the passage behind, and they could not detect the movements of Liang's cavalry farther south at all.
What's even worse is that they are completely unaware that this elite cavalry of the Liang Army may feign a shot and then cross the Dahong Mountains to ambush them!
Dahong Mountain is located on the east bank of the Han River, with a length of three to four hundred miles, criss-crossing ravines, and thousands of peaks, but the highest peak is only three to four hundred feet long.
The Dahong Mountain Range is mainly divided into three large areas on the east bank of the Han River. There are a large number of valleys, rift valleys, and flat dams between the three large mountainous areas. People who lived in Yingsui and other places thousands of years ago built roads among them.
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Without guarding the Fangzhai Pass, thousands of elite cavalry could quietly and quickly pass through Dahong Mountain from the east bank of the Han River and appear in the valley between Dahong Mountain and Tongbai Mountain.
They were too credulous in believing that Liang Jun was unwilling to use their elite troops to fight with them, and they were also too self-righteous. They felt that Tanzhou wanted to break away from Chu, and Liang Jun should regard them as potential cooperation partners, thinking that the eastward retreat to Suizhou would be smooth.
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Perhaps their mentality has already completely fallen into Liang Jun's calculations.
It can even be said that thousands of fine cavalry of the Liang Army bypassed Zaoyang City yesterday, with the purpose of frightening them and prompting them to abandon Zaoyang City and flee in a hurry.
Ma Xun and Wen Ruilin deeply regretted that they did not obey Du Chongtao's order and withdrew to the Han River with the Jiangzhou troops led by Zhong Yanhu.
In that case, even if they reach the Han River, they may be entangled by thousands of Liang Jun horse infantry rushing south from the north. However, with their backs to the Han River and the elite Xiangzhou Army coming to support at any time, it will definitely be worse than this time.
It is much more comfortable to meet the attack of thousands of Liang Army cavalry halfway without any preparation.
"Your Majesty, leave quickly!"
At this time, Ma Rong no longer cared about regretting anything, and ordered more than a hundred guards to support the prince Ma Xun and retreat to the rear. He himself retreated to the shallow stream on the west side of the hill, shouted loudly, and ordered the nearby soldiers and horses to move towards him.
Get closer and prepare to form a formation to meet the charge of Liang Jun's cavalry.
However, there were 15,000 to 6,000 soldiers and civilians who were under the jurisdiction of the six states. They retreated eastward together. After walking in the dark valley all night, they were exhausted. The team was naturally in disarray. Only the first half of the Tanzhou soldiers and horses were
Slightly better looking.
Fifteen to six thousand people had just relaxed and prepared to bury pots and cook, when they saw a torrent of black-armored cavalry coming out of the valley, and they all stood up in panic.
Although the land they were in was relatively open, the team was in a mess and stretched out for several miles. There was no formation at all, and they did not expect that a group of cavalry would come directly to kill them at such a close distance.
Ma Xun, Wen Ruilin and others retreated to the rear. After Ma Rong reached the shallow stream, he hastily gathered hundreds of infantry with shields and halberds to form two rows of horizontal formations.
The three to four hundred black-armored cavalry who were currently fighting were not afraid of the sharp spears protruding from the shields. The horses' hooves stepped through the shallow stream, and with splashing waves, they rushed towards the front line of the Chu army.
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Immediately, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the horses, which were pierced by spears and halberds, continued to hit and press against each other, opening gaps in the defensive array.
The fierce Liang Jun general Yong lost his horse. As long as he was not stabbed to death by a spear on the spot, he would dismount and fight on foot. Even if he was hit by several arrows or dozens of arrows, he would still slash them with his sword and halberd quickly and powerfully.
More cavalry rushed through the gap and charged deeply into the Chu army resolutely and quickly. The swords, spears, and shadows brought with them pieces of blood, and limbs and flesh flew everywhere, making the Chu army's scattered formation even more chaotic.
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At this time, groups of black-armored cavalry were like giant black dragons, constantly galloping out of the valley, wading through the dirty icy rivers, and charging into the chaotic ranks of the Chu army...
