The four hundred and thirteenth chapter southward withdrawal (2)
The cavalry team wearing white scarves seemed like a raging river hitting a stone cliff. In front of a dense forest growing on the bank of a stream, it divided smoothly into two parts and circled around the two wings of the forest.
The pursuing Forbidden Army cavalry were like ferocious tigers rushing from behind. They ignored the cavalry team that circled from the east wing of the woods to Donglu Mountain. In the direction of Donglu Mountain, there was the main force of the Qiuhu Army retreating south, with nearly two thousand troops.
The cavalry could move out quickly, and their scout team of less than a hundred cavalry was not something they could mess with. They pursued them along the west flank of the woods and caught the twenty or thirty White Turban Army cavalry who were escaping to the southwest.
The Chishan Army initially wore sweat scarfs on their collars to distinguish themselves from the enemy who were all wearing Chu army uniforms. Later, they also retained the habit of tying sweat scarves between their collars. The Nanya Forbidden Army and the Chuzhou Army also used to call the Chishan Army White Scarves.
military.
Seventy or eighty Forbidden Army cavalry were fully thinking about beheading dozens of White Turban Army leaders today, and the combat power they obtained made them enjoy the hot drinks, shouting and beating the horses under their command, and they were excited.
Some waved short spears and long knives in their hands, and some took off the long bows from their backs. Just waiting to close the distance, they took out arrows and shot them with their bows.
The flanks of the Forbidden Army's cavalry formation were exposed. The ambushes lurking in the woods raised their crossbows and fired a volley at the Forbidden Army's cavalry formation from the bushes. Then the ambush soldiers from the second and third teams stepped forward with their crossbows raised in a row.
The crossbow arrows shot through the air quickly and densely, as if the sound of wind was ringing at the edge of the woods.
The sound of killings was heard everywhere, and the imperial cavalry was so frightened that they were in a state of panic, focusing on one thing but not the other.
One horse fell to the ground with the Imperial Guard cavalry on its back; another horse's front hooves were broken and its head was stuck in the grass.
In the blink of an eye, the crossbow arrows, which were as dense as a swarm of locusts, knocked down eight or nine Forbidden Army cavalry.
The other Forbidden Army cavalry did not know whether the ambush in the woods was real or not, so they could only hide outside in a hurry. They huddled together while running wildly. After pulling away, they saw the flickering spear heads in the woods. They were afraid that hundreds of people were ambushing them, so they could only hide at the moment.
He could turn his horse's head and escape upstream of the stream behind him.
Han Donghu raised the control rope and led his cavalry to turn around and pursue them. The cavalry team on the other side quickly turned back to join them.
More than two hundred horse hooves were trampling in the mud soaked by heavy rain. However, this cavalry team had been stranded on the outside for more than two days and two nights. Both the men and the horses were exhausted, and they had no real energy to pursue this team of Forbidden Army scouts.
Not big, they spread out, their main task was to keep the Forbidden Army scouts and cavalry advancing from the north in groups, so as not to slow down the Lishui people's retreat to the south.
They chased for three or four miles and then returned. They met up with the ambush in the woods and formed a formation to stay on the outside of the woods for defense.
Han Donghu jumped off his horse and signaled that the Forbidden Army cavalry had fled far away. He ordered people to strip off the clothes and armor of the Nanya Imperial Guards who had been shot off their horses, and then they retreated.
Han Donghu walked among the grass, trying his best to retrieve the weapons dropped by the enemy soldiers and the crossbow arrows that were fired in the air. Unexpectedly, he walked deep into the grass, and a figure swooped up behind him.
Han Donghu heard a noise in front of him and slashed back with his sword. The light of the sword was as fast as lightning. When other cavalrymen recovered and rushed over to help, they saw that the sneak attacker was actually injured in the ambush and fell off his horse.
After falling off his horse, a Forbidden Army cavalry had no time to evacuate with the large group of troops, so he hid in the grass no more than his waist. Seeing that Han Donghu looked like the leading military attache, he thought that his hiding place would be found soon, so he wanted to make a sneak attack.
, but didn't want to be split open by Han Donghu's knife from the left shoulder collarbone to the right waist. The body was split into two parts, and hot blood was still gurgling out.
"Brother Hu, your sword is very good. I think Blind Diao is not enough in front of you. Go back and find an opportunity to knock him down so that he won't show off his power again." Someone praised.
"Quickly clean up and move away. There is a person hiding in the grass. You are all blind. Go back and see how I deal with you!" Han Donghu slapped the man on the ear and urged them not to waste time, and quickly searched the battlefield and retreated.
When a new cavalry team came to replace them, Han Donghu led more than 40 cavalrymen and withdrew towards Donglu Mountain to join the main force of Lishui soldiers and horses retreating south.
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When nearly 50,000 old, weak, women and children were evacuated from Yanlingbu to Maoshan, it took a whole day to cover more than 20 miles. Many people felt that it was extremely slow, but it was still Taowu troops who had been accustomed to semi-military camp management for many years.
The household is small.
Really like a pile of scattered sand, more than 20,000 Lishui County citizens, mainly members of various clansmen, followed the Qiuhu Army in chaos and retreated southward. Four days have passed since Li Pu learned that the Chishan Army retreated across the board and organized the move southward.
, the large group of chariots and horses withdrew to the east of Donglu Mountain.
It rained heavily last night, and the fields were muddy. The narrow official road was crowded with a chaotic flow of people. The carriages and horses moved forward like a snail, and the speed became even slower. For a long time, they could not go beyond three to five miles.
No matter how anxious Xinchang Hou Li Pu was, it was useless. He really couldn't imagine how the Chishan Army could evacuate all 200,000 to 300,000 women and children to the mountains at the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain in only five days.
There are two to three hundred thousand women and children, which is ten times their size.
Li Xiu led ten guards and chased him from the muddy field on the east side. The horse's belly was splashed with muddy water. Looking at the mess on the left and right, he was also very anxious.
It was said that the refugee army was a ragtag mass, and he had no direct impression of it in the past. At this moment, when he saw the people marching in Lishui County in such chaos, his heart was filled with despair.
Although it was only sixty miles away from Nantang Village where the Chishan Army still had 5,000 elite soldiers and horses stationed in the First Capital, if he really had to walk so slowly, he doubted that it would take six or seven days before he could reach a relatively safe place.
Go to the south of Nantang Village.
This is also the key reason why the refugee army is so unpopular.
The number of women and children who were bound to be several times greater than that of the generals was small, and the team was in chaos, their movements were delayed, and they were exposed for a long time. The people and horses were hungry and trapped. With such a long and slow-moving team, three thousand soldiers and horses could not protect them fully.
, in the eyes of military experts, there are vulnerable flaws everywhere.
The Chuzhou Army only needs to send a small group of elite soldiers and horses to attack from the flanks. They stretch forward and backward, dragging the team for nearly ten miles. They will probably be disrupted and defeated quickly, right?
Not to mention that the Nanya Forbidden Army also sent out a large number of scouts to attack the horses from the north.
"Axiu, there is nothing unusual about the Chuzhou Army in Liyang, right?" Li Pu came over and asked.
"Fortunately, the Chuzhou Army in Liyang has no sign of leaving the city yet," Li Xiu asked. "The Chuzhou Army entered Liyang City in the early morning with thousands of troops and horses, and the Chuzhou Army in the east increased to more than 10,000 people, but I estimate
They also couldn't guess the intention of the Chishan Army to withdraw south overnight. They were worried that we might be Han Qian's deliberate bait. The main force of the Chishan Army might suddenly come back from the southwest of Jieling Mountain at any time. They should not easily dispatch large groups of troops for the time being.
Horses, for the time being, we still have the ability to use the few cavalry forces we currently have to block small groups of reconnaissance and harassing enemy troops at the periphery - but delaying the team like this is not an option..."
Li Pu turned around worriedly and looked at the meandering and chaotic team to the south, his face also full of worry and anxiety.
Now the Chuzhou Army and the Nanya Forbidden Army couldn't figure out Han Qian's intentions, but with so many people and horses, they were delayed on the road, and there were internal complaints and disunity.
At this time, there was a vague noise in front. Li Pu and Li Xiu found a high place and looked two miles ahead. There was a relatively high slope to the east of Donglu Mountain. Thousands of men and women, together with a large number of carriages and horses, were coming from
The official road was taken down to rest.
It was a team composed of the female family members of various families, as well as young children and the elderly, headed by the Wei family. Li Yu and Yun Puzi followed the former Linshui County Prime Minister and were appointed magistrate of Liyang County after they surrendered. Wei Zhen, the judge of the Qiuhu Army, was also there.
within a team.
Li Qi and Liu Zishu each led a team of elites to protect the left and right sides of that team.
Li Pu looked over from a distance, but he saw a group of Chishan Army cavalry being blocked there. The two sides didn't know what the dispute was about.
Li Pu and Li Xiu, surrounded by guards, walked through the muddy fields and rushed to the slope. They saw Yao Xishui and Yun Puzi supporting the sick and gray elder brother, and together they stopped the angry Li Qi.
Liu Zishu, another man responsible for leading the team to protect the team, was lying on the ground covered in blood. His left arm was cut off from the shoulder and fell to the side. He didn't know whether he was alive or dead.
Wei Zhen was anxious and angry, looking confused.
Liu Zishu's two hundred generals were aggressively surrounding more than forty Chishan Army cavalry. If Wei Zhen, who was scolding and shouting in a hurry, hadn't stopped him in front, Li Pu and Li Xiu might have rushed over.
Before, both sides had drawn their weapons and started fighting.
However, this group of Chishan Army cavalry was not afraid of being surrounded. Being surrounded and unable to turn around, they all dismounted and formed a defensive formation with swords, shields, spears and crossbows.
Seeing Li Pu coming, the old man in green robe, Yun Puzi, and Yao Xishui pulled the angry Li Qi aside and left it to Li Pu to handle the matter.
"what happened?"
Although Li Pu was resentful and resentful towards Han Qian, he also knew that if there was a bloody conflict with the Chishan Army at this time, how miserable the consequences they would face would be, so he asked with a stern face.
"A lowly slave of the Shang family defected to the Chishan Army, but he has been coveting the daughter of the Yan Zhang family who married into the Shang family. He just led a group of cavalry passing by. He barged in and looked around for no reason. Liu Zishu scolded him to leave and whipped him.
With a whip, he cut off Liu Zishu's left arm with a knife, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead..." Wei Zhen said angrily.
He also knew the serious consequences of the bloody conflict with the Chishan Army cavalry at this time, but if Liu Zishubai, a descendant of the Liu family, was stabbed, he would not pursue the case and let him go easily. How would he explain to the Zhu family?
At Zhang Ping's request, the Chishan Army sent more than a thousand cavalry to help cover their southward retreat. Li Pu recognized Zhao Wuji and Guo Que, and had no memory of the Chishan Army cavalry general whose armor was stained with blood because of the siege.
, immediately lowered his head and ordered the guard to rush over and invite Zhang Ping and Zhao Wuji over.
Encountering such a difficult matter, Li Pu also wanted to tie up this group of Chishan Army cavalry generals who coveted women and caused trouble and chopped off the culprit. But even if he wanted to behead them to show military discipline, the Chishan Army generals would not be able to turn him around.
Intervening, Zhang Ping is the supervisor of the Chishan Army, and Zhao Wuji is the general in charge of this cavalry team, but he wants to see how Zhang Ping and Zhao Wuji deal with the lowly slave who kills his generals.