Not sure whether it was because of the cold wind, rain, or the appearance of this group of cavalry, Li Xingchen shuddered subconsciously.
Xiao Shilian inserted the shovel and pressed the handle: "How many people are there and in what direction?!"
The scout said with a grimace: "The wind and rain are too strong, and the brothers don't dare to get too close, so we can only see clearly that they are walking in the southwest direction. There are about three or four hundred people in total, and everyone is
He is a tall and powerful man, and should be an elite scout for the barbarians of the Northern Zhou Dynasty."
"Is this true?" Xiao Shilian frowned.
The scout hurriedly explained: "If it weren't for the fact that they didn't go south directly, I'm afraid there would be no way for my subordinates to report the news to the two generals before they arrived."
"Shizhong, what do you mean?" Xiao Shilian raised his eyebrows. It wasn't that he didn't trust his scouts, but he felt that there was something wrong with the Northern Zhou's scout cavalry heading southwest instead of south.
You must know that the west of this city is Jingshan Mountain. Although it is not a big mountain, the road in the mountain stretches from Jiangling to Xiangyang. It is winding and rugged and not easy to walk. Especially in this rainy weather, the road is slippery.
Just use your hands and feet together.
It is for this reason that the importance of Zhangshan County has just become prominent, and Li Xingchen and Xiao Shilian are confident that Yuchi Jiong will not go through Jingshan and bypass Zhangshan County.
Li Xingchen frowned and said in a deep voice: "You and I have also seen the map around Jingshan Mountain. There are many paths in the mountain, but most of them are only accessible to woodcutters. It is impossible for the army to pass through.
However, since Yuchijiong did not directly send the scouts to the gates of Zhangshan County, but headed westward, he must still have a glimmer of hope for Jingshan."
"Does that mean he has to do it?" Xiao Shilian vaguely guessed what Li Xingchen meant, "Is Yuchi Jiong so anxious that he would rather abandon us behind him and walk through the Jingshan Mountains than launch an attack on Zhangshan County?"
"I'm afraid that's the case," Li Xingchen said helplessly. "I'm afraid Yuchi Jiong had no choice but to do it. Now the news that Xiao Kui has fallen into our hands has probably been known to him, so he also knows that Jiangling will not be able to defend it for long.
The most urgent task now is not to waste time with us in Zhangshan County, but to do everything possible to reach Jiangling City first."
After a pause, Li Xingchen looked around: "Although the Mianshui River to the east of us is wide, even if we give you and me more men and horses, we can't completely block it, but there is General Ren in the lower reaches of the Mianshui River, and in the south of Suizhou City on the other side of the Mianshui River.
With General Chunyu, although these two partial armies are not large in number and are both fortified by fortified cities, it is still very easy to stop and delay Yuchi Jiong."
"That is to say, the current situation in Jiangling City does not allow Yuchi Jiong to make other choices?" Xiao Shilian completely understood, "But even so, how can Yuchi Jiong allow the army to flow unimpeded by relying solely on the roads in Jingshan Mountain?"
Li Xingchen said attentively: "If someone is Yuchi Jiong, he will definitely not go all out and gather the army at the gate of Zhangshan County. After all, in addition to our lone army, there are also large soldiers and horses in Mianyang in the south and Suizhou in the east.
, Yuchi could not afford to bet on the next situation, so he could only dispatch a light force to cross Jingshan Mountain, go straight down to Jiangling, and then besiege Zhangshan County with a large army."
Xiao Shilian nodded slightly. According to Li Xingchen's explanation, Yuchi Jiong could not only send reinforcements to Jiangling City as soon as possible, but also lead the army to open the road to Jiangling. Naturally, he killed two birds with one stone. And it is estimated that in Yuchi Jiong's heart, a building from Nanchen
A city guarded by a small number of elite soldiers and horses should not be that difficult to defeat.
"Get ready, we can't survive this battle," Li Xingchen chuckled, looking at the busy soldiers in the wind and rain, "It is estimated that in a few hours, we will be able to see the real main force of the Northern Zhou army.
"
Xiao Shilian gritted his teeth and looked towards the north across the vast wind and rain. At this time, he wished he could see through all the wind and rain.
And Li Xingchen took the shovel and jumped straight into the river. Together with the other soldiers, he tried his best to shovel the soil away: "Boqing, come on, we must fight for it in a moment!"
————————————-
"Xiao Shilian, Li Xinchen..."
At the foot of Suizhou City, Chun Yuliang looked at the battle report and chewed on these two names.
The wind carried cold raindrops hitting his face, and the snow-white beard and hair of the old Nanchen general were dancing gently in the wind. The generals around him subconsciously held their breath. Although he was already old, General Zhengxi,
The governor of Yingzhou, an old man with the same etiquette, his aura is enough to keep them in high spirits.
At this time, these two young men were leading nearly 3,000 soldiers to guard Zhangshan County, preparing to block Yuchi Jiong's army from the north with such a small number of soldiers and horses. According to the information obtained by Chun Yuliang, Yuchi Jiong's army was three times as large as
The defenders of Zhangshan County.
And as we all know, the defending army often does not include men who assist in defending the city and civilians who are responsible for transporting defensive equipment such as wood and rolling stones. Therefore, in a certain sense, the number of people defending the city is often much greater than that of the attacking army.
After all, it would be difficult for the siege army to actually send all the civilians responsible for transporting food to the front line.
Chun Yuliang, who has been on the front lines in Nanchen for a long time, knows very well what the situation is like in Zhangshan County. An empty city with nothing means that it is difficult for the troops defending the city to get help and support from the civilians and people in the city, even if this is the case.
Help comes by force of the sword.
More importantly, the entire Zhangshan County is probably in short supply of food, grass, and equipment.
Chun Yuliang didn't know what kind of courage these two young generals had to advance to Zhangshan County, but Chun Yuliang knew that by doing so, they were setting a nail in Yuchi Jiong's only path. Yuchi Jiong could really do it.
Said it was like a lump in the throat.
As a veteran who had competed with Yuchi Jiong many times since the Nanliang period, Yuchi Jiong was unlucky, and Chun Yuliang was certainly happy.
Although Chun Yuliang knew that Xiao Shilian and Li Xingchen were both Xiao Mohe's people, it was Xiao Mohe who, under Wu Mingche's vigorous cultivation and promotion, became the out-and-out number one in the Nanchen military.
Before Wu Mingche, this position was originally held by Chun Yuliang. However, because Wu Mingche took over Chun Yuliang's task and led his army to successfully lead the Northern Expedition, this position fell into the hands of Wu Mingche and now it fell into the hands of Xiao Mohe and Chun Yuliang.
It doesn't matter anymore.
However, Chun Yuliang did not have any prejudice against Li Xingchen and Xiao Shilian because of his jealousy and dissatisfaction with Xiao Mohe. As a veteran who had been on the battlefield for many years, he was still able to distinguish between public and private matters. Wu Mingche snatched Chun Yuliang's position back then.
, the unified army attacked Huainan. Although Chun Yuliang was very dissatisfied with this, he still asked his sons who were generals on the front line to cooperate fully to ensure the safety of Wu Mingche's flanks.
This time it was the same. Faced with the letter asking for help from Zhangshan County, Chun Yuliang did not hesitate at all: