In the afternoon, outside Luohu Valley, a group of Ming troops arrived belatedly. The leader was Su Jiakang, the magistrate of Zhengtai County, an old acquaintance of everyone in Huangzhushan.
When these Ming troops arrived outside Luohu Valley, even though these Ming troops were not familiar with the many dangerous places in the mountains, anyone with a little military knowledge could tell that this valley was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
If two armies are fighting, as long as the ambush side blocks the valley passage dozens of meters wide, the army passing through the valley can be divided into two halves to fight separately. Moreover, the terrain in the valley is narrow and the troops cannot be deployed.
, a disastrous defeat is inevitable by then.
Although Qianhu Zeng Ziyun of the Ming Army was young, he was a Qianhu who succeeded his deceased father two years ago and did not have any combat experience.
However, as a general's son, he was destined to become a Qianhu from birth. He was trained as a military general since he was a child. He had read some military books and his personal martial arts skills were passable.
So when he saw the seemingly low valley in front of him, he became vigilant.
He immediately walked up to Su Jiakang and said, "Mr. Su, the terrain ahead is difficult. Should we ask the army to wait and send some scouts to check it out?"
When Su Jiakang heard this, he frowned slightly, with a hint of disdain in his frown. This Zeng Ziyun relied on the merits of his ancestors to inherit the position of Qianhu when he was less than twenty years old.
I originally thought that even though he inherited the position, he was from a general family and would have some courage, but he didn't expect that this person would be so timid.
Are there any strong enemies in this mountain?
There is a fart!
There are several groups of bandits in this mountain, and the largest one among them is the target of their trip: Huangzhushan, well, that is, the Puppet Tang Dynasty.
Others don’t know what the pseudo-Tang is, but Su Jiakang still doesn’t know?
Half a year ago, he personally led the county warriors to wipe out the pseudo-Tang Dynasty in Lijiazhuang, and beheaded the pseudo-emperor Li Erbi on the spot.
Later, he led the county warriors to hunt down the pseudo-Tang prince Li Xuan.
Two battles in succession had allowed him to fully understand the nature of the Tang Dynasty: it was just a few bold and ignorant villagers messing around, and then a group of bandits with ulterior motives participated.
Facing the Tang Dynasty like this, Zeng Ziyun was still cautious!
However, despite his disdain for this, Su Jiakang had no objection. They were not in a hurry anyway, so it didn't matter if they waited for a while.
After Su Jiakang nodded lightly, Zeng Ziyun first asked the team to stop, and then arranged for spies to check the valley ahead to see if there was any ambush.
The actions of these Ming troops outside the valley were naturally clearly seen by everyone in Huangzhushan in the valley. When they saw the Ming troops stopped, they also sent spies.
Huang Xueren's face turned cold immediately: "I didn't expect these Ming soldiers to be so cautious!"
Fang Dongquan said: "What are you afraid of? Let the brothers hide it. Is it possible that just a few of them can search both sides of the valley?"
Butcher Chen also nodded and said: "There are few of us, and the woods on both sides are dense, so there is no way they can find us!"
Sometimes, there are advantages to having fewer people!
The high mountains and dense forests on both sides of the valley may not seem large, but the woods are very dense. It is easy to hide two hundred of them.
As long as they are careful, there is little chance of being discovered!
Of course, they still have a way out, that is, if they are discovered by the Ming army in advance, they will run away immediately. The mountains are high and densely forested. Is it possible that the Ming army can outrun these bandits who wander around the mountains every day?
Just kidding!
You have been a bandit for Fang Dongquan and the others for more than ten years for nothing. If you don't have the ability to escape in the mountains, you would have been wiped out by the government long ago.
As time passed bit by bit, five or six spies from the Ming Army entered the valley one after another and began to search both sides of the valley.
If the people in Huangzhushan were a group of regular troops and had made many preparations for an ambush, such as rolling logs and boulders arranged on the tops of the mountains on both sides, they would definitely be discovered by the spies at a glance.
But the problem is that although the people in Huangzhushan have the title of Royal Master of the Tang Dynasty, they are not regular troops. They don't know how to fight this ambush or how to make traps. For them, the so-called ambush means hiding on both sides.
Then when the time is up, rush out and fight.
There were no rolling logs, boulders or traps prepared at all.
In this way, there was no loophole left. The spies of the Ming army quickly walked back and forth in the valley and came out without finding any traps or anything like that.
After seeing that the spies had returned safely and found nothing unusual, Zeng Ziyun from behind nodded, then waved his hand, and the stopped army slowly entered the valley.
"They're coming in, everyone, get ready!" On the top of the mountain, Fang Dongquan, who had emerged from the dense forest again, lowered his voice and ordered.
The distance between the Ming army and the Ming army was getting closer and closer, and soon a small group of officers and soldiers entered the valley, followed by a large group of troops.
"When they all come in, we'll rush down!" Fang Dongquan once again whispered to everyone around him.
At this time, Butcher Chen, who was not far away from him, already held an enlarged version of the pig-killing knife in his hand. Following Butcher Chen were more than twenty tough gangsters from Huangzhushan.
These twenty-odd bandits are not the most powerful among the people in Huangzhushan, but they are the least afraid of death.
When the time comes, Butcher Chen will lead these twenty-odd bandits as the vanguard, while Fang Dongquan and Huang Xueren will charge behind with a large group of troops.
If Butcher Chen's charge goes smoothly, they will be able to fight a smooth battle, and victory will not be an extravagant hope.
If Butcher Chen's charge doesn't go smoothly, they will turn around and run away. If they can't be beaten, they will run away. This is not a shameful thing.
More and more officers and soldiers are entering the valley!
Fang Dongquan felt that the palm of his hand holding the knife had begun to sweat, and there was a layer of fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
Not even the mountain breeze in early winter could bring him a hint of coolness!
Slowly, he raised the long knife in his hand, and he was already ready to give the order to attack at any time!
But at this critical moment, the Ming army entering the valley suddenly became panicked, and the dozen or so Ming soldiers at the front began to shout something.
Several generals who looked like important people ran forward to check.
Seeing this scene, Fang Dongquan thought to himself, could they have discovered people like him?
No, I haven't charged yet, my brothers are still well hidden, and these Ming troops haven't climbed to the top of the mountain, so it's impossible to find them now.
But soon, he knew why these Ming troops were panicking.
Because at the other end of the valley, I don't know when a large number of people appeared. It seemed that the number of people was at least close to a hundred.
Although it was difficult to see clearly from a distance, Fang Dongquan still recognized it at a glance. The person who suddenly appeared in another section of the valley was not someone else, but the Jiguan Mountain bandits they had attacked just a few days ago!