In a small valley on the edge of the mountain, thousands of Ming troops crowded here, filling the small valley to the brim.
These Ming troops did not just pull up simple tents casually in order to rush for time as usual, or simply sleep on the ground without setting up a tent. This night, they set up a serious camp and erected
Lots of tents.
This also allowed those Ming army soldiers who had been hiding in the deep mountains and wild forests for seven or eight days to finally have a good sleep.
In the past seven or eight days, in order to pursue the puppet Tang thief army in front, both Diao Leixun and Su Jiakang led their soldiers to pursue them all the way without stopping for half a day. They even set off at dawn for two days and walked all the way.
They stopped only after nightfall, which not only made Su Jiakang and the others almost exhausted to death, but also made the soldiers below complain.
It would be fine if we could catch up with the puppet Tang rebel army by doing this, but we couldn't catch up!
The puppet Tang bandit army in front was just like the women on the street. Occasionally they would stop and wave their handkerchiefs and shout to the Ming army men: "Uncle, come quickly. The slave family is waiting for you. Look, I'm not wearing anything underneath."
Underwear!”
But when Su Jiakang and the Ming army marched for a long time, they found that the puppet Tang rebel army had disappeared again.
It was okay in the first two days. These Ming troops had not noticed the sinister intentions of the puppet Tang rebels. However, in the next two days, even Su Jiakang, who wanted to pursue the puppet Tang rebels, was aware of the puppet Tang rebels in front.
He was deliberately leading them in circles.
Su Jiakang was not a stupid person. He quickly thought of the two previous times when he was led in circles by the pseudo-Tang thief army. Each time, he worked very hard, but Mao, the pseudo-Tang thief army, did not catch up to him.
root.
I'm afraid it won't be possible to continue chasing. Since I can't catch up, I don't plan to continue chasing. That's why I set up camp early in the afternoon today, preparing to have a good night's rest, and then go out tomorrow. As for those fake Tang thieves
Jun, do whatever you like, Su Jiakang is not going to accompany them in circles anyway.
That night, Su Jiakang, Diao Leixun and other generals discussed it and finally decided to go out and not continue to circle around with the puppet Tang bandits.
The movements of the Ming army were naturally monitored by the spies sent by Li Xuan at all times. Therefore, when these Ming troops got up early the next morning, instead of pursuing them, they turned around and walked out of the mountain. The spies of the Tang Dynasty immediately came.
Quickly report the relevant situation to Li Xuan.
"They are leaving? Are you sure?" Li Xuan asked with obvious doubts.
The Ming army had been chasing them so hard these past few days, as if they would not give up until they caught up, so why did they suddenly stop chasing them today?
The spy immediately said: "It's absolutely true, the young one watched them leave with his own eyes, and in order to prevent them from cheating, we still have people following up and keeping an eye on them!"
"It seems that these pseudo-Ming thieves are indeed coming out!" Qian Mengjiu said with a look of relief: "The pursuit has been really tight these days. If we continue to pursue like this, we are really afraid of appearing.
What an accident!"
At this time, Fang Dongquan also said: "Since they have left, we have to follow them!"
After hearing Fang Dongquan's words, several people looked puzzled. Wang Shanxu said: "It's not good to follow us. What if these Ming troops are pretending to retreat, but actually want to ambush us halfway?"
Butcher Chen also said: "What are you going to do if you follow them? We can't stop them on the road. There are more than a thousand of them. With only 300 of us, it's not easy to fight!"
The gap in strength between the two sides was too large, which had always been the main reason why the Tang Dynasty king's division was too timid to fight a decisive battle when facing the Ming army.
Not to mention how the Ming court will react after defeating the Ming army, and whether they will send more than ten or twenty guards to suppress them, but the key point is that even if they want to fight, they may not be able to defeat them!
Three hundred versus one thousand, these bandits feel guilty no matter how much they look at it!
Therefore, these bandits in Huangzhushan had a limited number of battles with the Ming army, and they secretly attacked their partial divisions of dozens to more than a hundred people. This was the case whether they were grain transport teams or forwards.
But as soon as they met the main force of the Ming army, it didn't take much. When they met three or four hundred people, these bandits immediately turned around and ran away, staying to fight a tough battle. Whoever is stupid will be beaten. They are not stupid, so naturally they will not
Will fight.
Unless absolutely necessary, these bandits are never willing to have a head-on confrontation with the Ming army, because they will suffer losses if they lose, and they will suffer losses if they win. No matter whether they win or lose, it is not good for them.
Li Xuan also thought about it and said: "Don't worry, let people keep an eye on the movements of the Ming army. We have been struggling for half a month ourselves. Let's rest for a few days first!"
Since leaving the mountain before the summer harvest, the new army of the Tang Dynasty has been traveling for more than half a month. Even though they actually fought two small-scale battles in these half months and were easily resolved, the physical strength of the soldiers was still very high.
big.
Are you not tired from running around every day?
Since the Ming army took the initiative to retreat, regardless of whether it was true or not, Li Xuan would take this opportunity to rest for a few days, but rest is rest. This battle must continue to be fought, and it is impossible to go back like this.
One of their two goals for going out this time has been completed: collecting grain. The second goal is to firmly restrain the Ming army and prevent them from attacking Huangzhu Mountain.
.
Therefore, after the rest, they still have to go out and continue their plan to achieve the second goal.
As the Ming army took the initiative to retreat, the chase and escape between the two sides came to an end for the time being. However, what made Li Xuan a little depressed was that when the Ming army came out of the mountain, they conveniently took over a sentry post that had been captured by the Huangzhushan bandits.
Called back.
The Huangzhushan bandits who stayed at the guard post were only about twenty ordinary young men, and there were not even a single New Army soldier. Naturally, they did not have the courage to confront the Ming army head-on. As soon as the Ming army came, they ran away quickly, thus causing the New Army of the Tang Dynasty to lose
A transfer station connecting the mountains and the outside world.
However, Li Xuan didn't take it seriously. It was just a sentry post, and it was not the only checkpoint for entering and exiting the mountain. Since this post was taken back by the Ming army, they would just build another checkpoint as a passage for entry and exit. He didn't believe it.
The army can also tightly guard all the passages in and out of the mountain. If he really wanted to do this, Su Jiakang would have to have at least tens of thousands of troops under his command.
This time, the new army of the Tang Dynasty rested for three full days and regrouped with the baggage train led by Huang Xueren before re-entering the mountainous area. This launched the fourth battle that could determine the survival of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Xuan looked at the bandits under his command and couldn't help but sigh: This is another battle that will overwhelm the country!